More Stories

Informist, Monday, Oct. 5, 2026

 

By Eshitva Prakash

 

MUMBAI – Traders covered their short positions in contracts marked for expiry beyond Tuesday, indicating expectations of a recovery in the Nifty 50 index in the near term. At the same time, high open interest on near-the-money options, coupled with accelerated theta decay ahead of the weekly expiry, increases the likelihood of a range-bound session Tuesday. The benchmark indices snapped a four-session losing run Monday but higher crude oil prices and high global bond yields continue to trigger profit sales, limiting the upside, analysts said.

 

Long call positions for contracts dated for monthly expiry show expectations that the Nifty 50 will recover from the fall recorded in September. Among out-of-the-money options, the call contract with a 23000 strike price was one of the most expensive, with its premium rising over 7% Monday. Traders also purchased other deep-out-of-the-money contracts which were marked for monthly expiry. Premium at the 23200 strike price rose 4% to INR 88 while open interest at this position declined by 150,150 contracts as option sellers covered short positions.  

 

The highest put base at the 21500 strike price, followed by the 22000 strike price, indicates long-term support for the Nifty 50 index, while hefty open positions at the 22500 strike price show immediate support. The highest call base at the 23000 strike price, meanwhile, shows where the index will face resistance. 

 

Traders purchased call contracts across several out-of-the-money strike prices marked for expiry Oct. 13. Premiums across 22600-22900 strike prices rose up to 10%. Premiums on further out-of-the-money contracts across 23000-23200 strike prices also rose slightly. Similarly, traders purchased deep-out-of-the-money contracts expiring Oct. 19, albeit at a higher premium. The put-call ratio for contracts expiring this week improved to 0.9 from deeply oversold territory, data from the National Stock Exchange showed.
 

Meanwhile, traders sold put contracts at deep-out-of-the-money strike prices expiring Oct. 27. This is a sharp turnaround from prior sessions where such contracts were in heavy demand amid expectations of a tightening monetary policy and high crude oil prices. In fact, a fall in open interest at several strike prices, along with a decline in premiums of such contracts, shows significant short covering by sellers. 

 

Monday, the Nifty 50 ended at 22555.75 points, up 0.6% from Thursday, primarily due to a rise in shares of financial services companies and banks and select consumer-facing stocks. A weaker-than-expected US jobs data dramatically lowered bets of the US Federal Reserve raising rates in October. A stronger-than-anticipated result by global information technology bellwether Accenture also helped select beaten-down IT stocks, while others in the pack ended lower as the Dublin-headquartered company said it witnessed no substantial change in demand and discretionary spending in the August quarter.

 

"The disconnect between underlying economic growth and market performance has led participants to increasingly price in elevated crude oil prices, higher bond yields, and currency-related risks," Vinod Nair, head of research at Geojit Investments, said. "Attention is now shifting to the RBI policy decision and the upcoming earnings season, with a 25-bps rate hike already largely priced into market expectations."

 

At 1554 IST, the December futures contract of Brent Crude was up 0.2% at $102.42 per barrel on the Intercontinental Exchange. High crude oil prices have led to concerns about inflation running amok, which, in turn, has invited restrictive monetary policy from central banks across the world. However, a soft US jobs report in September lowered chances of an immediate rate hike by the US central bank, with nearly 80% of Fed fund futures traders expecting the apex bank to maintain the status quo, up from 29% just a week ago.

 

--Nifty 50 October closed at 22623.70, up 93.40 points; 67.95-point premium to the spot index

--Nifty 50 November closed at 22730.60, up 92.60 points; 174.85-point premium to the spot index

--Nifty 50 December closed at 22843.80, up 64.50 points; 288.05-point premium to the spot index

 

HDFC Bank, Infosys, BSE, Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, Tata Consultancy Services, Bajaj Finance, Avenue Supermarts, ITC, Axis Bank, and PB Fintech were the most actively traded underlying stocks Monday.  End

 

US$1 = INR 96.29

IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT

 

Edited by Rajeev Pai

 

For users of real-time market data terminals, Informist news is available exclusively on the NSE Cogencis WorkStation.

 

Cogencis news is now Informist news. This follows the acquisition of Cogencis Information Services Ltd. by NSE Data & Analytics Ltd., a 100% subsidiary of the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd. As a part of the transaction, the news department of Cogencis has been sold to Informist Media Pvt. Ltd.

 

Informist Media Tel +91 (22) 6985-4000

Send comments to feedback@informistmedia.com

 

© Informist Media Pvt. Ltd. 2026. All rights reserved.