SENSEX expiry today: Index jumps 600 points to scale fresh all-time high

Equity markets opened slightly higher before rallying to hit fresh highs. The benchmark index, Nifty 50 was trading higher by 0.78% while the SENSEX saw gains of 0.77%.

The 30-stock BSE SENSEX index’s futures and options contracts have their weekly expiry on Friday. The index saw range-bound action initially before breaking out upwards to hit a new all-time high of 80,893.51. The index had hit a low of 79,843.

At 12 p.m, the SENSEX was trading at 80,521. The options market was factoring in resistance at the 80,500 level as call options for the strike price have an open interest of 20.91 lakhs while the change in open interest was 1.42 lakh.

According to options data, the level of 80,000 will act as strong support as Put options have an open interest of 21.69 lakh while the change in open interest stood at 2.57 lakh.

On the 15-minute timeframe, the Index was trading above its 21-day and 50-day period exponential moving averages.

At the time of writing, the Max Pain for SENSEX was 80,400. The Max Pain theory indicates the level at which option sellers would face the least loss on expiry. However, the Max Pain level is dynamic and can change.

The Put Call Ratio (PCR) was 0.97 which indicates a neutral sentiment. The PCR is a ratio that signifies the number of puts bought in comparison to the number of calls. The PCR can be considerably high in cases of extreme movements within the market.

The India VIX, an index that tracks the anticipated volatility in the market over the next 30 days declined by 0.84% to 13.88.

The BSE SENSEX was pulled higher with considerable gains in IT stocks. TCS, which has a weightage of 8.94% in the index, was up 5.86% while Infosys which holds a weightage of 4.32% was trading higher by 3.11%. Tech Mahindra saw gains of 3.19%. Meanwhile, losses in NTPC, Asian Paints, and Kotak Bank were dragging the index lower.