Nifty ended higher for third-straight session on Thursday. Index made a flat-to-negative start following mixed cues from other Asian peers. Soon, index extended its losses as subdued corporate earnings weighted on market sentiments. Traders were cautious ahead of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's Union Budget speech on February 01, 2026. However, in afternoon session, market witnessed strong recovery and entered into green terrain as traders took some support with government data showing that India's industrial production growth accelerated to over a two-year high of 7.8 per cent in December 2025, driven by strong performances in mining, manufacturing and electricity. Besides, renewed foreign fund inflow created optimism among investors. As per exchange data, Foreign Institutional Investors (FII) bought equities worth Rs 480.26 crore on Wednesday. In last leg of the trade, index continued its firm trade near day’s high level and ended above 25,400 mark.

Traders were seen piling up positions in Metal, Private Bank and Oil & Gas stocks, while selling was witnessed in FMCG, Chemicals and Pharma. The top gainers from the F&O segment were ABB India, National Aluminium Company and Oil India. On the other hand, the top losers were KPIT Technologies, Canara Bank and Solar Industries India. In the index option segment, maximum OI continues to be seen in the 25900 - 26100 calls and 24900 - 25100 puts indicating this is the trading range expectation.

India Volatility Index (VIX), a gauge for market’s short-term expectation of volatility decreased by 1.15% and reached 13.37. The 50 share Nifty up by 76.15 point or 0.30% to settle at 25,418.90.

Nifty February 2026 futures closed at 25539.00 on Thursday (LTP), at a premium of 120.10 points over spot closing of 25418.90, while Nifty March 2026 futures ended at 25710.00 (LTP), at a premium of 291.10 points over spot closing. Nifty February futures saw an addition of 20,022 units, taking the total open interest (Contracts) to 2,75,215 units. The near month derivatives contract will expire on February 24, 2026. (Provisional)

From the most active contracts, HDFC Bank February 2026 futures traded at a premium of 5.85 points at 940.85 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 935.00. The numbers of contracts traded were 49,549. (Provisional)

Hindustan Zinc February 2026 futures traded at a premium of 4.20 points at 720.20 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 716.00. The numbers of contracts traded were 38,819. (Provisional)

Bharat Electronics February 2026 futures traded at a premium of 1.70 points at 446.95 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 445.25. The numbers of contracts traded were 31,977. (Provisional)

Larsen & Toubro February 2026 futures traded at a premium of 18.00 points at 3956.00 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 3938.00. The numbers of contracts traded were 31,307. (Provisional)

Canara Bank February 2026 futures traded at a discount of 0.10 points at 150.59 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 150.69. The numbers of contracts traded were 31,024. (Provisional)

Among, Nifty calls, 26000 SP from the February month expiry was the most active call with an addition of 1,803 units open interests. Among Nifty puts, 25000 SP from the February month expiry was the most active put with an addition of 3,911 units open interests. The maximum OI outstanding for Calls was at 26000 SP (65,833 units) and that for Puts was at 25000 SP (68,957 units). The respective Support and Resistance levels of Nifty are: Resistance 25531.43 -- Pivot Point 25345.62 -- Support 25233.08.

The Nifty Put Call Ratio (PCR) finally stood at (1.13) for February month contract. The top five scrips with highest PCR on Dalmia Bharat (1.45), Patanjali Foods (1.31), ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company (1.28), Oberoi Realty (1.27) and Bajaj Finance (1.20).

Among most active underlying Hindustan Zinc witnessed an addition of 5,193 units of Open Interest in the February month future, Canara Bank witnessed an addition of 5,726 units of Open Interest in the February month future, Vedanta witnessed an addition of 1,881 units of Open Interest in the February month futures, ICICI Bank witnessed an addition of 4,609 units of Open Interest in the February month futures and HDFC Bank witnessed an addition of 4,374 units of Open Interest in the February month futures. (Provisional).