Indian equity benchmark -- Nifty -- ended lower on Monday amid selling in IT and oil & gas stocks. Index made flat-to-positive start and soon turned volatile amid rising geopolitical tensions after the U.S. attacked Venezuela. American forces carried out a large military operation in Venezuela, capturing President Nicolas Maduro and his wife and taking them to the US to face various charges, including narco-terrorism and drug trafficking. Market continued its lackluster trade around neutral lines in afternoon session as traders remained cautious as American President Donald Trump said that the United States could raise tariffs on Indian goods if New Delhi does not help on concerns related to Russian oil. In late afternoon session, index magnified its losses and touched day’s low but soon recovered. Traders took note of report that Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal will visit Brussels this week for talks with his EU counterpart on the proposed trade pact, for which negotiations are in the last phase. Besides, comments from the think tank GTRI helped investors to shrug off worries surrounding U.S.-Venezuela tensions. GTRI indicated that India is unlikely to face any material economic or energy impact due to the US-Venezuela conflict. Though, index failed to enter the green terrain and settled below 26,300 mark.

Traders were seen piling up positions in Realty, Consumer Durables and FMCG stocks, while selling was witnessed in IT, Oil & Gas and Pharma. The top gainers from the F&O segment were PG Electroplast, Union Bank of India and Prestige Estates Projects. On the other hand, the top losers were Premier Energies, Waaree Energies and Cummins India. In the index option segment, maximum OI continues to be seen in the 26900 - 27100 calls and 25900 - 26100 puts indicating this is the trading range expectation.

India Volatility Index (VIX), a gauge for market’s short-term expectation of volatility increased by 6.05% and reached 10.02. The 50 share Nifty down by 78.25 point or 0.30% to settle at 26,250.30.

Nifty January 2026 futures closed at 26329.00 on Monday, at a premium of 78.70 points over spot closing of 26250.30, while Nifty February 2026 futures ended at 26476.00, at a premium of 225.70 points over spot closing.  Nifty January futures saw an addition of 8,775 units, taking the total open interest (OI) to 2,19,575 units. The near month derivatives contract will expire on January 27, 2026. (Provisional)

From the most active contracts, HDFC Bank January 2026 futures traded at a premium of 2.00 points at 980.50 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 978.50. The numbers of contracts traded were 63,416. (Provisional)

ITC January 2026 futures traded at a premium of 0.75 points at 350.35 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 349.60. The numbers of contracts traded were 28,960. (Provisional)

Reliance Industries January 2026 futures traded at a premium of 4.50 points at 1581.50 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 1577.00. The numbers of contracts traded were 24,852. (Provisional)

SBIN January 2026 futures traded at a premium of 1.90 points at 1007.30 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 1005.40. The numbers of contracts traded were 24,243. (Provisional)

ICICI Bank January 2026 futures traded at a premium of 4.60 points at 1376.60 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 1372.00. The numbers of contracts traded were 24,039. (Provisional)

Among, Nifty calls, 26500 SP from the January month expiry was the most active call with an addition of 1,351 units open interests. Among Nifty puts, 26000 SP from the January month expiry was the most active put with an addition of 2,639 units open interests. The maximum OI outstanding for Calls was at 27000 SP (81,890 units) and that for Puts was at 26000 SP (99,572 units). The respective Support and Resistance levels of Nifty are: Resistance 26345.65 -- Pivot Point 26277.85 -- Support 26182.50.

The Nifty Put Call Ratio (PCR) finally stood at (1.06) for January month contract. The top five scrips with highest PCR on Petronet LNG (1.38), IIFL Finance (1.13), Hindalco Industries (1.12), LIC Housing Finance (1.10) and JSW Energy (1.10).

Among most active underlying HDFC Bank witnessed an addition of 19,170 units of Open Interest in the January month future, ICICI Bank witnessed an addition of 3,419 units of Open Interest in the January month future, Reliance Industries witnessed an addition of 1,214 units of Open Interest in the January month futures, State Bank of India witnessed an addition of 2,209 units of Open Interest in the January month futures and ITC witnessed an addition of 8,543 units of Open Interest in the January month futures. (Provisional).