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.

The Indian equity market after getting a positive handover from the global equity market opened with a gap up of 114 points. Broader market also rallied in today’s trade as Nifty midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 were up by 1.2% and 0.9%, respectively in today’s trade. One of the reasons for such performance is confidence ensued by Fed Chairman Jerome Powell in the U.S. economic recovery and reiterated that the central bank would tackle inflation. This is also reflected in the action of the F&O segment.

Activity on the F&O front for weekly expiry tomorrow shows 18500 to act as a strong resistance now. Highest open interest contract of 133253 stood at this strike price. The second-highest call option open interest 121836 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 132130 open interest was added at this strike price.

In terms of put activity, the highest put writing was seen at a strike price of 17700 (129009) open interest added on (12-Jan-2022), followed by 18000 where (106747) open interest was added on January 12. Highest total put open interest (129161) stood at a strike price of 17700. This is followed by a strike price of 18000, which saw a total put option open interest of 106766 contracts.
The Nifty 50 put call ratio (PCR) closed at 1.29 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 18150.