Nifty closes above 17,300 on weekly expiry; Tata Consumer and HDFC emerge as top gainers

The top gainers among Nifty stocks are Tata Consumer Products, HDFC, and ONGC

Market update at 3.30 PM: It was a quiet day for the Indian indices. Nifty majorly traded in a rangebound manner. In the end, the benchmark index closed at 17,304, a loss of about 16 points. Even the broader indices traded tightly during the day. However, a slight weakness was seen in the small-cap space.   

Among the sectoral indices, Nifty FMCG closed higher while the others traded slightly lower. The top gainers among Nifty stocks are Tata Consumer Products, HDFC, and ONGC while the top losers include Ultratech Cement, Axis Bank & ICICI Bank.  

Overall, it was a range-bound trading day as the market awaits further clarity from Eastern Europe.  

Market update at 1.15 PM: Nifty continues to remain range-bound and hovers around 17,400. The broader indices are also trading flat.

India VIX is up by a per cent. HDFC, which surged over 2 per cent, is in focus today! The stock was under selling pressure lately while it also witnessed strong buying today.

The 17,500 call options, as well as 17,200 put options, have added huge open interest and it seems as if Nifty may stay rangebound for the day. 

Market update at 11.15 AM: Nifty is trading rangebound on the weekly expiry day. The benchmark index has hit the day’s low at 17,235.85 as well as the day’s high of 17,442.90. Sensex is up by just 60 points while the broader market also doesn’t show any enthusiasm.  

India VIX has surged 3 per cent today. Among the sectors, auto and metal have been outperforming the other sectors while banks & pharma are weak today.  

Bajaj Auto, Tata Consumer Products, and HDFC are trading higher today while UltraTech Cement, Axis Bank & ICICI Bank are the top losers among Nifty stocks.  

Huge open interest has been added at 17,400 call options and 17,200 put options. Thus, we can expect Nifty to close in this range for this weekly expiry.   

Market update at 10 AM: Nifty opened about 50 points higher on account of good global cues. However, the selling pressure persists and Nifty has filled the gap. The benchmark index trades flat amid volatility. Nifty Midcap and Nifty Smallcap are also trading flat on the weekly expiry day.  

However, the weakness in the market has caused India VIX to rise over 5 per cent. A good point to note is that Nifty is holding on to the important level of 17,300. The highest addition of open interest has been done at 17,400 call options while on the put side, the 17,000 put option has been added in huge quantity. Thus, market participants expect Nifty to be range-bound with a slightly negative bias. 

Meanwhile, the top gainers in the first hour of the trade are Hero MotoCorp, ONGC, Cipla & Tata Motors while the stocks that are trading weak include Axis Bank, IndusInd Bank, ICICI Bank, and Bajaj Finserv. 

Pre-market update: Last night, the US markets recovered significantly in the last one hour, which led to positive sentiment.

With this, most of the Asian markets have opened higher with SGX Nifty indicating a 60-point higher opening for Nifty.

In the last trading session, the FIIs sold for about Rs 1,890 crore while the DII supported the market by buying about Rs 1,180 crore worth of equity.

Crude oil is up by 2 per cent while the precious metals are also trading in the green on Thursday morning.

Geopolitical tensions around Eastern Europe continue to be a concern for investors while the global markets are likely to be choppy for the next few more days until clarity emerges.

The 17,500 call option has the highest open interest for this weekly expiry and is likely to act as a tough resistance today.