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Nifty ends flat with positive bias on Friday
Aug-21-2026

Indian equity benchmark -- Nifty ended flat with positive bias on Friday. Index made a flat-to-positive start following mixed cues from other Asian markets. But soon, index turned volatile and hovered near neural line as elevated geopolitical tensions between US-Iran weighted on market sentiment. Traders overlooked report that HSBC's flash India Composite Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), compiled by S&P Global, rose to 54.6 in August from July's 52-month low of 54.3. In second half of the session, Index continued its volatile trade near neutral line till the end of the session as trader remained cautious with surged crude oil prices and shutdown of Strait of Hormuz reignited the energy supply disruption in the region. Finally, Nifty managed to end the session in green terrain.

Traders were seen piling up positions in Metal, Private Bank and Realty stocks, while selling was witnessed in FMCG, Auto and Chemicals. The top gainers from the F&O segment were Vedanta, Hindustan Zinc and Bharat Dynamics. On the other hand, the top losers were Britannia Industries, KEI Industries and Torrent Pharmaceuticals. In the index option segment, maximum OI continues to be seen in the 24200 - 24400 calls and 23900 - 24100 puts indicating this is the trading range expectation.

India Volatility Index (VIX), a gauge for market’s short-term expectation of volatility increased by 4.09% and reached 11.20. The 50 share Nifty up by 20.15 point or 0.08% to settle at 24,252.00.

Nifty August 2026 futures closed at 24288.00 (LTP) on Friday, at a premium of 36.00 points over spot closing of 24252.00, while Nifty September 2026 futures ended at 24394.90 (LTP), at a premium of 142.90 points over spot closing. Nifty August futures saw an addition of 4,297 units, taking the total open interest (Contracts) to 1,70,984 units. The near month derivatives contract will expire on August 25, 2026. (Provisional) 

From the most active contracts, HDFC Bank August 2026 futures traded at a premium of 3.55 points at 730.50 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 726.95. The numbers of contracts traded were 1,15,670. (Provisional) 

Reliance Industries August 2026 futures traded at a discount of 6.00 points at 1310.00 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 1316.00. The numbers of contracts traded were 57,147. (Provisional) 

Infosys August 2026 futures traded at a premium of 1.50 points at 1122.50 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 1121.00. The numbers of contracts traded were 49,151. (Provisional) 

Tata Consultancy Services August 2026 futures traded at a discount of 3.20 points at 2298.80 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 2302.00. The numbers of contracts traded were 39,939. (Provisional) 

Axis Bank August 2026 futures traded at a discount of 0.20 points at 1245.60 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 1245.80. The numbers of contracts traded were 39,155. (Provisional)

Among, Nifty calls, 24300 SP from the August month expiry was the most active call with an addition of 62,940 units open interests. Among Nifty puts, 24200 SP from the August month expiry was the most active put with an addition of 34,072 units open interests. The maximum OI outstanding for Calls was at 24300 SP (2,13,492 units) and that for Puts was at 24000 SP (2,74,070 units). The respective Support and Resistance levels of Nifty are: Resistance 24288.43 -- Pivot Point 24247.62 -- Support 24211.18.

The Nifty Put Call Ratio (PCR) finally stood at (1.08) for August month contract. The top five scrips with highest PCR on Samvardhana Motherson International (1.20), Petronet LNG (1.14), Bajaj Auto (1.08), Nippon Life India Asset Management (1.02), and Multi Commodity Exchange of India (1.01).

Among most active underlying HDFC Bank witnessed a contraction of 1,605 units of Open Interest in the August month future, Reliance Industries witnessed an addition of 11,309 units of Open Interest in the August month future, ICICI Bank witnessed an addition of 12,537 units of Open Interest in the August month future, Axis Bank witnessed an addition of 15,349 units of Open Interest in the August month futures and Bharti Airtel witnessed an addition of 14,837 units of Open Interest in the August month futures. (Provisional)

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