Trade setup for 16 March: Bulls unable to sustain gains, 17,200 a key hurdle for expiry?

Blog | F&O

Asian Markets Update @ 7 am 

The SGX Nifty is trading flat, up by 4 points (+0.03%) compared to its last close, indicating a flat start for the Nifty50 today. Major Asian markets are trading in the red. Japan's Nikkei 225 lost 0.9%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.6%.

Global Market Update

US stocks ended mixed as distress in Credit Suisse dampened investor confidence and added to the ongoing banking crisis. The Dow Jones fell 0.9% to end at 31,874. The S&P 500 declined 0.7% to 3,891, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.05% and finished at 11,434.


Index Action

Nifty50
March Futures @ 17,027 📉98 (-0.5%)
OI Contracts: 2,47,790 (+0.2%)

The Nifty50 reversed its early gains and settled below 17,000 for the first time in five months. The fall in European markets on concerns of ECB hiking interest rates in its upcoming meeting on Thursday contributed to the fall in Indian markets. Financial stocks continued to slip lower, dragging the index down by nearly half a per cent.

Sectorally, Media (-1.2%) and PSU Bank (-1.2%) were the biggest draggers, while Metal (+1.8%) and Pharma (0.3%) were among the gainers.

The Nifty50 options expiring on 16 March have significant positions at 17,200 and 17,300 calls and 16,800 and 16,900 puts.

According to options data and OI analysis, the Nifty50's long range for the 29 March expiry is between 16,500 and 17,400. On the other hand, 16,800 and 17,200 is the short-term range for the current week.


Bank Nifty
March Futures @ 39,194 📉449 (-1.1%)
OI Contracts: 1,09,280 (-3.4%)

On Wednesday, the Bank Nifty fell nearly 1% and breached 39,000 in trade. With PSU bank and private bank indices among the top losing sectors, the banking index did not see any significant signs of recovery and slipped through the day before ending just above the 39,000 level. 

Among banking stocks, except Kotak Mahindra Bank (+1.0%), all other 11 stocks of the index ended lower, with Bank of Baroda (-1.9%) and IndusInd Bank (-1.8%) losing the most.

The Bank Nifty's options expiring on 16 March have significant positions at the 40,000 and 39,500 calls and 39,000 and 38,000 puts.

According to options data and OI analysis, Bank Nifty's range for the 29th March expiry is between 37,800 and 40,200. On the other hand, 38,600 and 39,400 is the short-term range for the current week.


FII and DII Data💰

The Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) sold shares worth ₹1,271 crore, while Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) bought shares worth ₹1,823 crore in the cash market. In the derivatives market, FIIs bought index futures worth ₹81 crore and sold index options worth ₹11,989 crore. Further, they bought stock futures worth ₹256 crore and sold stock options worth ₹104 crore.

India VIX 

The fear gauge India VIX rose 0.4% to 16.30.


Stock Action📊

Long build-up was seen in GMR Infra, IEX, Petronet LNG, Dalmia Bharat and Whirlpool.  

Short build-up was seen in RBL Bank, Bank of Baroda, Nestle, SBI and Reliance Industries. 

Under F&O Ban: GNFC and Indiabulls Housing Finance. 


*In Futures and Options or F&O, long build-up means an increase in Open Interest (OI) along with an increase in price, and short build-up means an increase in Open Interest (OI) along with a decrease in price.

**Source: nseindia.com. Cash market figures are provisional.

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