F&O Cues: Call and Put option writers are not sure of market direction

Highest put option open interest contract was added at a strike price of 16100 for expiry on February 24.

The Indian equity market continues to have a volatile trade and finally closed in the red. It opened negatively and continued to slip in the first half-hour of trade. After that, it gained and touched an intra-day high of 17351 before closing at 17206.65 down by 69.65 points or 0.4 per cent. Banking index was the only major index that closed in green and lend to support the frontline indices along with IT. Most of the Asian markets closed in red while the European markets are also trading in red currently. The market is likely to remain choppy till the time we do not find any stability around Russia- Ukraine tension.

Traders are not sure about the direction of the market reflected in their actions. Call and put writers are writing put and call options far out of money. Activity on the F&O front for weekly expiry on February 24 shows 18000 to act as a strong resistance now. Highest open interest contract of 174141 stood at this strike price. The second-highest call option open interest 106084 for Nifty 50 stood at a strike price of 17500. In terms of the highest addition of open interest in the call options front, it was at 18000 in the last trading session. A total of 31071 open interest was added at this strike price.

In terms of put activity, the highest put writing was seen at a strike price of 16100, where 57947 open interest was added today, followed by 17000 where (27156) open interest was added. Highest total put open interest (143117) stood at a strike price of 17000. This is followed by a strike price of 16000, which saw a total put option open interest of 94702 contracts.

The Nifty 50 put call ratio (PCR) closed at 0.97 for the day. A PCR above 1 is considered bullish while a PCR below 1 is considered bearish.

Max pain at the end of today's trade for weekly expiry on February 24 stands at 17300.

Top five call and put open interest with their strike price.