Indian equity benchmark -- Nifty ended marginally higher on Friday. Index made a positive start following broadly positive cues from other Asian markets. Soon, index gained traction and continued its firm trade. Sentiments got a boost as the World Bank raised India's GDP growth forecast to 7.2 per cent for the current fiscal, up by 0.9 percentage points from its June projections, on the back of robust domestic demand and tax reforms. Meanwhile, traders took some support with Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrwal’s statement that India and the EU are very close to concluding negotiations on the proposed free trade agreement (FTA), with discussions underway to resolve remaining issues so that the deal is ready for announcement during the visit of top leadership later this month. However, in afternoon session, index trimmed most of its gains as market participants opted to book profit at higher level. In last leg of the trade, market continued its lacklustre trade near neutral line. Finally, Nifty ended near to 25,700 mark.

Traders were seen piling up positions in IT, PSU Bank and Private Bank stocks, while selling was witnessed in Pharma, Consumer Durables and Metal. The top gainers from the F&O segment were The Federal Bank, Angel One and Infosys. On the other hand, the top losers were Patanjali Foods, Hitachi Energy India and Eternal. 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 increased by 0.46% and reached 11.37. The 50 share Nifty up by 28.75 point or 0.11% to settle at 25,694.35.

Nifty January 2026 futures closed at 25749.40 (LTP) on Friday, at a premium of 55.05 points over spot closing of 25694.35, while Nifty February 2026 futures ended at 25890.00 (LTP), at a premium of 195.65 points over spot closing. Nifty January futures saw a contraction of 2,275 units, taking the total open interest (Contracts) to 2,59,489 units. The near month derivatives contract will expire on January 27, 2026. (Provisional)

From the most active contracts, Infosys January 2026 futures traded at a premium of 1.40 points at 1690.50 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 1689.10. The numbers of contracts traded were 70,454. (Provisional)

HDFC Bank January 2026 futures traded at a premium of 2.95 points at 933.50 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 930.55. The numbers of contracts traded were 67,204. (Provisional)

Reliance Industries January 2026 futures traded at a discount of 1.40 points at 1459.60 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 1461.00. The numbers of contracts traded were 38,395. (Provisional)

ICICI Bank January 2026 futures traded at a premium of 0.40 points at 1413.40 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 1413.00. The numbers of contracts traded were 35,771. (Provisional)

The Federal Bank January 2026 futures traded at a premium of 0.25 points at 271.00 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 270.75. The numbers of contracts traded were 30,364. (Provisional)

Among, Nifty calls, 26000 SP from the January month expiry was the most active call with a contraction of 806 units open interests. Among Nifty puts, 25500 SP from the January month expiry was the most active put with an addition of 7,523 units open interests. The maximum OI outstanding for Calls was at 26000 SP (1,52,880 units) and that for Puts was at 26000 SP (83,647 units). The respective Support and Resistance levels of Nifty are: Resistance 25824.43 -- Pivot Point 25743.42 -- Support 25613.33.

The Nifty Put Call Ratio (PCR) finally stood at (0.77) for January month contract. The top five scrips with highest PCR on Petronet LNG (1.35), LIC Housing Finance (1.15), IndusInd Bank (1.12), Punjab National Bank (1.01) and Angel One (0.99).

Among most active underlying Infosys witnessed a contraction of 1,770 units of Open Interest in the January month future, The Federal Bank witnessed an addition of 825 units of Open Interest in the January month future, HDFC Bank witnessed an addition of 3,767 units of Open Interest in the January month futures, ICICI Bank witnessed an addition of 9,946 units of Open Interest in the January month futures and Reliance Industries witnessed an addition of 6,982 units of Open Interest in the January month futures. (Provisional).