Indian equity benchmark -- Nifty -- ended lower on Tuesday amid renewed tariff jitters. Index made a positive start following positive cues from other Asian market. But in a while, index pared all gains and started wavering near neutral line with negative bias. Market participants avoided risky bids ahead of weekly F&O expiry. Meanwhile, traders took note of report that the Government data showed retail inflation rose to a three-month high of 1.33 percent in December 2025 mainly due to higher prices of kitchen essentials, including vegetables and protein-rich items. In afternoon session, market extended its losses as US President Donald Trump announced that he would impose a 25 percent tariff on countries trading with Iran. However, in last leg of the trade, index trimmed some of its losses but ultimately ended below 25,750 mark.

Traders were seen piling up positions in PSU Bank, Media and IT stocks, while selling was witnessed in Consumer Durables, Realty and Pharma. The top gainers from the F&O segment were Oil India, Manappuram Finance and Oil & Natural Gas Corporation. On the other hand, the top losers were Dixon Technologies (India), Vodafone Idea and Trent. In the index option segment, maximum OI continues to be seen in the 25900 - 26100 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 decreased by 1.49% and reached 11.20. The 50 share Nifty down by 57.95 point or 0.22% to settle at 25,732.30.

Nifty January 2026 futures closed at 25780.40 (LTP) on Tuesday, at a premium of 48.10 points over spot closing of 25732.30, while Nifty February 2026 futures ended at 25916.00 (LTP), at a premium of 183.70 points over spot closing. Nifty January futures saw an addition of 6,716 units, taking the total open interest (Contracts) to 2,65,426 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 3.85 points at 938.60 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 934.75. The numbers of contracts traded were 50,388. (Provisional)

Reliance Industries January 2026 futures traded at a premium of 0.70 points at 1457.60 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 1456.90. The numbers of contracts traded were 44,020. (Provisional)

Tata Consultancy Services January 2026 futures traded at a discount of 51.90 points at 3211.10 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 3263.00. The numbers of contracts traded were 43,414. (Provisional)

HCL Technologies January 2026 futures traded at a discount of 4.00 points at 1660.00 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 1664.00. The numbers of contracts traded were 36,850. (Provisional)

Larsen & Toubro January 2026 futures traded at a premium of 5.70 points at 3895.70 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 3890.00. The numbers of contracts traded were 30,633. (Provisional)

Among, Nifty calls, 26000 SP from the January month expiry was the most active call with an addition of 13,823 units open interests. Among Nifty puts, 25500 SP from the January month expiry was the most active put with a contraction of 174 units open interests. The maximum OI outstanding for Calls was at 26000 SP (1,35,989 units) and that for Puts was at 26000 SP (84,037 units). The respective Support and Resistance levels of Nifty are: Resistance 25886.97 -- Pivot Point 25745.13 -- Support 25590.47.

The Nifty Put Call Ratio (PCR) finally stood at (0.88) for January month contract. The top five scrips with highest PCR on Petronet LNG (1.38), LIC Housing Finance (1.03), Grasim Industries (1.00), JSW Steel (0.91) and Supreme Industries (0.90).

Among most active underlying Reliance Industries witnessed an addition of 17,455 units of Open Interest in the January month future, HDFC Bank witnessed an addition of 14,060 units of Open Interest in the January month future, ICICI Bank witnessed an addition of 3,375 units of Open Interest in the January month futures, Tata Consultancy Services witnessed an addition of 3,273 units of Open Interest in the January month futures and Larsen & Toubro witnessed an addition of 8,776 units of Open Interest in the January month futures. (Provisional).