Nifty ends lower on Friday amid India-Pakistan tensions

Indian equity Benchmark -- Nifty -- extended previous session’s losses and ended lower on Friday amid India-Pakistan tensions. Index made a positive start followed by broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight as well as firm trade in other Asian markets as traders remained optimistic about a favorable outcome from the ongoing tariff negotiations between the U.S. and several partner countries, particularly China, Japan, South Korea and India. Soon, index wiped out all its initial gains and entered into red terrain. Sentiments were pessimistic amid ongoing uncertainty over India- Pakistan relations after terror attacks in Kashmir. In afternoon session, index continued its choppy trade till the end of the day as cautiousness persists over index as market participants took note of Federation of Indian Export Organisations’ (FIEO) statement that with Pakistan suspending all trade ties with India, including that routes through third countries, the two-way commerce will now come to a complete halt. Finally, Nifty closed below 24,050 mark.

Most of the sectorial indices ended in red except IT stocks. The top gainers from the F&O segment were SBI Life Insurance Company, Mphasis and Persistent Systems. On the other hand, the top losers were Shriram Finance, Angel One and SBI Cards and Payment Services. In the index option segment, maximum OI continues to be seen in the 24400 - 25600 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 5.58% and reached 17.16. The 50 share Nifty down by 207.35 point or 0.86% to settle at 24,039.35.

Nifty May 2025 futures closed at 24120.00 (LTP) on Friday, at a premium of 80.65 points over spot closing of 24039.35, while Nifty June 2025 futures ended at 24212.00 (LTP), at a premium of 172.65 points over spot closing. Nifty May futures saw an additional of 11,518 units, taking the total open interest (Contracts) to 1,64,903 units. The near month derivatives contract will expire on May 29, 2025. (Provisional) 

From the most active contracts, Maruti Suzuki India May 2025 futures traded at a discount of 40.00 points at 11610.00 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 11650.00. The numbers of contracts traded were 65,838. (Provisional) 

Reliance Industries May 2025 futures traded at a premium of 6.40 points at 1307.40 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 1301.00. The numbers of contracts traded were 54,132. (Provisional) 

Axis Bank May 2025 futures traded at a premium of 5.50 points at 1170.80 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 1165.30. The numbers of contracts traded were 45,984. (Provisional) 

ICICI Bank May 2025 futures traded at a premium of 4.50 points at 1407.50 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 1403.00. The numbers of contracts traded were 30,328. (Provisional) 

HDFC Bank May 2025 futures traded at a premium of 8.80 points at 1916.80 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 1908.00. The numbers of contracts traded were 29,723. (Provisional)

Among, Nifty calls, 25000 SP from the May month expiry was the most active call with a contraction of 1,150 units open interests. Among Nifty puts, 24000 SP from the May month expiry was the most active put with an additional of 7,714 units open interests. The maximum OI outstanding for Calls was at 24500 SP (45,214 units) and that for Puts was at 24000 SP (57,936 units). The respective Support and Resistance levels of Nifty are: Resistance 24320.58 -- Pivot Point 24084.22 -- Support 23802.98. 

The Nifty Put Call Ratio (PCR) finally stood at (1.44) for May month contract. The top five scrips with highest PCR on Patanjali Foods (1.60), Torrent Power (1.43), PB Fintech (1.29), Petronet LNG (1.27) and Oil India (1.25).

Among most active underlying, Maruti Suzuki India witnessed an additional of 4,546 units of Open Interest in the May month future, Reliance Industries witnessed an additional of 3,038 units of Open Interest in the May month future, Axis Bank witnessed an additional of 3,617 units of Open Interest in the May month futures, HDFC Bank witnessed an additional of 4,177 units of Open Interest in the May month futures and ICICI Bank witnessed a contraction of 5,405 units of Open Interest in the May month futures. (Provisional)