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

Highest call option open interest contract was added at a strike price of 18500 for expiry on January 13.  

Indian equity market gained for the third day in a row. Though today the gain was a bit lower than the earlier two trading sessions and was a little volatile as well. Nifty 50 opened in red today, however, closed with gains. There were few occasions when Nifty 50 breached the 18000 level and finally it closed at 18055.7 up by 0.29% or 52.5 points. Now, investors will wait for Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's appearance before the Senate Banking Committee, to get a handle on interest rate hikes in the US.  

Activity on the F&O front for weekly expiry on January 13 shows 18500 to act as a strong resistance now. Highest open interest contract of 107877 stood at this strike price. The second-highest call option open interest 101383 for Nifty 50 stood at a strike price of 18400. 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 106754 open interest was added at this strike price. 

In terms of put activity, the highest put writing was seen at a strike price of 17500 (96159) open interest added on (11-Jan-2022), followed by 17800 where (94574) open interest added on January 11. Highest total put open interest (96759) stood at a strike price of 17500. This is followed by a strike price of 17800, which saw a total put option open interest of 94641 contracts.  

The Nifty 50 put call ratio (PCR) closed at 1.15 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 stands at 18000.