Indian equity benchmark -- Nifty -- ended marginally higher on Thursday ahead of US-Russia talks. Index made a slightly negative start following broadly negative cues from other Asian markets. Soon, index wiped out all initial losses and entered in green terrain. Market participants took some support with Crisil’s research report for August stating that India's headline inflation is expected to average 3.5 per cent this fiscal year (FY26), as compared to 4.6 per cent in the last financial year. It said that healthy agricultural production is likely to keep food inflation in check. Some support also came with S&P Global Ratings Director YeeFarn Phua stated that Trump’s tariffs will not have any impact on India's growth, as it is not a trade-oriented economy, and its sovereign ratings outlook will continue to remain positive. However, gains remined capped amid continued foreign fund outflow. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 3,644.43 crore on Wednesday, as per exchange data. In afternoon session, index continued its trade near neutral line for most part of the session. Traders avoided risky bids ahead weekly F&O expiry and long weekend holiday. In last leg of the trade, index turned volatile but managed to end the session in green terrain.

Traders were seen piling up positions in Consumer Durables, IT and PSU Bank stocks, while selling was witnessed in Metal, Oil & Gas and Realty. The top gainers from the F&O segment were Muthoot Finance, Manappuram Finance and Kalyan Jewellers India. On the other hand, the top losers were NMDC, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation and Max Healthcare Institute. In the index option segment, maximum OI continues to be seen in the 24900 - 25100 calls and 24400 - 24600 puts indicating this is the trading range expectation.

India Volatility Index (VIX), a gauge for market’s short-term expectation of volatility increased by 1.77% and reached 12.36. The 50 share Nifty up by 11.95 point or 0.05% to settle at 24,631.30.

Nifty August 2025 futures closed at 24671.90 (LTP) on Thursday, at a premium of 40.60 points over spot closing of 24631.30, while Nifty September 2025 futures ended at 24815.00 (LTP), at a premium of 183.70 points over spot closing. Nifty August futures saw an addition of 442 units, taking the total open interest (Contracts) to 2,25,047 units. The near month derivatives contract will expire on August 28, 2025. (Provisional)

From the most active contracts, Infosys August 2025 futures traded at a premium of 4.00 points at 1452.00 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 1448.00. The numbers of contracts traded were 49,336. (Provisional)

Muthoot Finance August 2025 futures traded at a premium of 14.70 points at 2769.40 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 2754.70. The numbers of contracts traded were 31,435. (Provisional)

Tata Consultancy Services August 2025 futures traded at a premium of 1.50 points at 3024.00 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 3022.50. The numbers of contracts traded were 19,512. (Provisional)

HDFC Bank August 2025 futures traded at a premium of 2.10 points at 1991.60 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 1989.50. The numbers of contracts traded were 16,517. (Provisional)

Eternal August 2025 futures traded at a premium of 0.45 points at 318.15 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 317.70. The numbers of contracts traded were 16,068. (Provisional)

Among, Nifty calls, 25000 SP from the August month expiry was the most active call with an addition of 207 units open interests. Among Nifty puts, 24500 SP from the August month expiry was the most active put with an addition of 8,590 units open interests. The maximum OI outstanding for Calls was at 25000 SP (91,128 units) and that for Puts was at 24500 SP (61,126 units). The respective Support and Resistance levels of Nifty are: Resistance 24671.00 -- Pivot Point 24633.95 -- Support 24594.25.

The Nifty Put Call Ratio (PCR) finally stood at (0.98) for August month contract. The top five scrips with highest PCR on Alkem Laboratories (1.04), Zydus Lifesciences (0.99), Apollo Hospitals Enterprise (0.99), KPIT Technologies (0.99) and Petronet LNG (0.98).

Among most active underlying Infosys witnessed an addition of 9,503 units of Open Interest in the August month future, Muthoot Finance witnessed an addition of 1,549 units of Open Interest in the August month future, HDFC Bank witnessed an addition of 4,840 units of Open Interest in the August month futures, ICICI Bank witnessed an addition of 3,516 units of Open Interest in the August month futures and Eternal witnessed an addition of 4,459 units of Open Interest in the August month futures. (Provisional).