F&O Cues: Key support & resistance levels for Nifty 50

Highest put option open interest contract was added at a strike price of 17200 for expiry on December 23. 

After falling for four continuous days, the Indian equity market closed with a gain in today’s trade. Taking cues from the global market Nifty 50 opened with a gap up of more than 100 points, however failed to hold that. Only in the last 45 minutes of trade it recovered and closed up by 0.16% or 27 points at 17248. Nifty VIX also cooled off by almost 8%. It seems that we have formed the base for the short term. Selling pressure emerges between 17300 and 17400.

Activity on the F&O front for weekly expiry on 23 December 2021, shows 17300 to act as a pivotal point now. Nevertheless, the highest open interest contract of 88,028 stood at a strike price of 18,500. The second-highest call option open interest 71,466 for Nifty 50 stood at a strike price of 17300. In terms of the highest addition of open interest in the call options front, it was at 18500 in the last trading session. A total of 83,441 open interest was added at this strike price.

In terms of put activity, the highest put writing was seen at a strike price of 17300 (40276 open interest added on 2021-12-16 ), followed by 17200 (28536 open interest added on 2021-12-16). The highest total put open interest (48633) stood at a strike price of 17300. This is followed by a strike price of 17200, which saw a total put option open interest of 47580 contracts.

The Nifty 50 put call ratio (PCR) closed at 0.58 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 stand at 17300.