Call, Put OI Bases Shifting To Higher Bands

As per latest options data on NSE, the resistance level moved up by 900points to 24,000CE and the support level also moved up by 1,500 points to 23,000PE. The 24,000CE has highest Call OI followed by 24,100/ 23,600/ 22,200/ 22,700/ 23,200/ 23,300/ 24,200/ 24,300/ 23,100/ 24,500 strikes, while 23,600/ 23,700/ 24,200/ 24,500/ 24,300 strikes recorded reasonable to heavy build-up of Call OI. Call ITM strikes from 23,300 inwards witnessed marginal OI fall.

Maximum Put OI is seen at 23,000PE followed by 22,500/ 22,700/ 23,100/ 23,300/ 23,400/ 22,300/ 22,400/ 22,900/ 21,000 strikes. Further, 23,000/ 23,200/ 23,300/ 22,500 strikes recorded reasonable addition of Put OI. Moderate fall is visible at majority Put OTM strikes.

The continued selling pressure from highs triggered relatively higher Call writing than the Puts as major Put OI base is at 23,000 strike. Among Call strikes, 24,000CE and higher strikes hold noteworthy open interest. Thus, a move above 24,000 may trigger a round of up move towards 22,800 this week. For the week ended March 21, 2025, BSE Sensex closed at 76,905.51 points, a remarkable gain of 3,076.60 points or 4.16 per cent, from the previous week’s (March 13) closing of 73,828.91 points. NSE Nifty too moved up by 953.20 points or 4.25 per cent to 23,350.40 points from 22,397.20 points a week ago.

India VIX fell 0.22 per cent to 12.58 level. Implied Volatility (V) significantly rose to 23,000PE, which has the highest Put OI base. Despite the heavy rebound in the market last week, India VIX fell and closed negative on a weekly basis. Lower India VIX is suggesting no major panic among option writers. Considering such low levels, a round of up move in the India VIX due to short covering shouldn’t be ruled out, according to ICICIdirect.com.

FIIs turned net buyers last week. However, their net selling was at Rs3,500 crore from the secondary markets last week. Net selling by foreign funds in 2025 so far surpassed Rs1.5 lakh crore. On the other hand, domestic funds continue to deploy to provide much needed cushion to the markets. DIIs bought over Rs5,500 crores last week in the secondary markets.

FIIs’ net shorts in the F&O space remained largely unchanged at 1.85 lakh contracts. Nifty futures OI remained unchanged as fresh short positions were formed in the Banking index. Thus, a short covering move might be seen.

Bank Nifty

Bank Nifty NSE’s banking index closed the week at 50,593.55 points, a heavy rebound of 2,096.05 or 4.32 per cent from the previous week’s closing of 48,497.50 points.

Open Interest in Bank Nifty futures rose further as current OI in the index is one of the highest levels seen in the last one year. Analysts expect short covering if Bank Nifty is able to hold above 50,000 level this week. On the higher side, a 51,000 level should remain a crucial hurdle in the coming sessions.