Major Call OI Bases At Near The Money

Further rise in volatility can’t be ruled out considering the RBI MPC meeting scheduled this week

The resistance level remained at 24,000CE for a third consecutive week, while the support level fell by 100 points to 21,900PE, according to the latest options data on NSE. Previously, the support level at 22,000PE for three weeks in a row.

The 24,000CE has highest Call OI followed by 25,950/ 24,500/ 25,000/ 25,900/ 25,200/ 24,400/ 24,300/ 23,500 strikes, while 24,000/ 23,800/ 23,500/ 23,700/ 24,500/ 25,000/ 25,200 strikes.

Only OTM strike 25,350 recorded minute OI fall.

Coming to the Put side, the maximum Put OI is at 21,100PE followed by 23,000/ 23,200/ 23,400/ 21,200/ 21,500/ 22,000/ 22,200/ 22,300/ 22,400/ 22,500 strikes. Further, 23,000/ 22,200/ 21,100/ 21,200/ 21,250 strikes witnessed reasonable addition of Put OI.

Put OTM strikes 21,400-21,700 range posted moderate OI fall.

Despite the ongoing volatility, major Call writing is seen at near the money strikes with noteworthy Call base placed at 23,500 strike. At the same time, due to continued support coming from 23,000 level, Put concentration is getting heavier near ATM strikes with notable Put base placed at 23,000 strike, according to ICICIdirect.com.

For the 6-day week ended February 1, 2025, BSE Sensex closed at 77,505.96, a fall of 1,315.50 points or 1.72 per cent, from the previous week’s (January 24) closing of 76,190.46 points. NSE Nifty too dropped 389.95 points or 1.68 per cent to 23,482.15 points from 23,092.20 points a week ago.

India VIX fell 18.49 per cent to 14.18 level. The fear gauge continued to rise last week, but fell during the last two sessions and closed below 15 level. Further rise in volatility cannot be ruled out considering the RBI MPC meeting scheduled this week. Despite the sharp sell-off seen, India VIX below 15 level suggesting expectations of limited declines.

Nifty futures recorded short additions during the last week as net short contracts reached to record 3.5 lakh contracts. Few rounds of short covering took place in last few sessions, but recovering were limited. The Nifty futures premium also remained under pressure throughout the week as it closed with nearly 25 points premium. Hence, further weakness should be expected if Nifty moves below 22,900 level during the settlement week.

FII net shorts in F&O space fell marginally to 3.1 lakh contracts from net shorts of 3.2 lakh contracts seen last week. However, net longs by foreign funds in both Call and Put options were relatively low where they seems to be more bearish, Hence, sustainability of current level will be crucial this week. At the same time, FII long bets in stock futures remained near 12 lakh contracts.

Bank Nifty

NSE’s banking index closed the week at 49,506.95 points, lower by 1,139.17 or 2.35 per cent from the previous week’s closing of 48,367.80 points.