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Bears tighten grip for third consecutive session; Nifty ends lower over 2%
Mar-13-2026

Nifty continued its pessimistic trade for third consecutive day and ended deeply in red on Friday as intensified West Asian conflict and shoot up crude oil prices weighted on market sentiments. Brent crude oil prices surpassed $100 per barrel. Index made a gap-down start and remained under pressure till the end of the session. Traders were cautious after Iran’s new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei vowed to keep the Strait of Hormuz closed, the latest sign the market may face a prolonged supply disruption. Meanwhile, rupee depreciation to all-time-low of 92.43 against U.S. Dollar, also impacted trading sentiments. Besides, sentiments remained weak as Foreign Institutional Investors offloaded equities worth Rs 7,049.87 on Thursday. Cautiousness also prevailed in markets as government data showed that retail inflation in the country moved up to 3.21 per cent in February compared to 2.74 per cent in the preceding month. The inflation data is based on the new CPI series with base year 2024.

All sectorial indices ended in red. The top gainers from the F&O segment were Syngene International, Muthoot Finance and Tata Consumer Products. On the other hand, the top losers were Larsen & Toubro, Amber Enterprises India and Jindal Steel. In the index option segment, maximum OI continues to be seen in the 25900 - 26100 calls and 22900 - 23100 puts indicating this is the trading range expectation.

India Volatility Index (VIX), a gauge for market’s short-term expectation of volatility increased by 5.23% and reached 22.65. The 50 share Nifty down by 488.05 point or 2.06% to settle at 23,151.10.

Nifty March 2026 futures closed at 23228.40 (LTP) on Friday, at a premium of 77.30 points over spot closing of 23151.10, while Nifty April 2026 futures ended at 23370.50 (LTP), at a premium of 219.40 points over spot closing. Nifty March futures saw an addition of 38,744 units, taking the total open interest (Contracts) to 3,19,988 units. The near month derivatives contract will expire on March 30, 2026. (Provisional)

From the most active contracts, HDFC Bank March 2026 futures traded at a premium of 2.05 points at 818.75 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 816.70. The numbers of contracts traded were 68,795. (Provisional)

Larsen and Toubro March 2026 futures traded at a premium of 2.40 points at 3447.40 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 3445.00. The numbers of contracts traded were 37,651. (Provisional)

Reliance Industries March 2026 futures traded at a premium of 0.40 points at 1382.50 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 1382.10. The numbers of contracts traded were 28,157. (Provisional)

ICICI Bank March 2026 futures traded at a discount of 1.50 points at 1253.50 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 1255.00. The numbers of contracts traded were 24,451. (Provisional)

State Bank of India March 2026 futures traded traded flat with its spot closing of 1046.00. The numbers of contracts traded were 24,385. (Provisional)

Among, Nifty calls, 24000 SP from the March month expiry was the most active call with an addition of 9,925 units open interests. Among Nifty puts, 23000 SP from the March month expiry was the most active put with a contraction of 4,527 units open interests. The maximum OI outstanding for Calls was at 26000 SP (98,978 units) and that for Puts was at 23000 SP (82,737 units). The respective Support and Resistance levels of Nifty are: Resistance 23391.67 -- Pivot Point 23251.83 -- Support 23011.27.

The Nifty Put Call Ratio (PCR) finally stood at (1.05) for March month contract. The top five scrips with highest PCR on Dalmia Bharat (1.15), RBL Bank (1.10), Jindal Steel (1.08), GAIL (India) (1.01), and REC (0.99).

Among most active underlying HDFC Bank witnessed an addition of 12,427 units of Open Interest in the March month future, Larsen & Toubro witnessed an addition of 12,626 units of Open Interest in the March month future, ICICI Bank witnessed an addition of 6,346 units of Open Interest in the March month futures, Reliance Industries witnessed an addition of 4,009 units of Open Interest in the March month futures and State Bank of India witnessed an addition of 4,126 units of Open Interest in the March month futures. (Provisional).

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