Indian Equity Benchmark -- Nifty ended marginally higher on Friday amid optimism over India-US trade deal entered into final phase. Expressing optimism over early conclusion of India-US trade agreement, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar stated that this historic trade agreement is in the final stages of detailing and is likely to be completed very soon. Index made a negative start following weak global cues. Soon, index extended its losses and continued its choppy trade in red amid renewed foreign fund outflow weighted on market sentiments. As per exchange data, Foreign Institutional Investors (FII) offloaded equity worth Rs 2,150.51 crore on Thursday. During the noon hour, index witnessed some recovery but unable to hold it and slipped again. However, in dying hour of the session, index regain some traction and managed to end the session in green terrain. Traders took some encouragement as Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) revised its growth projection for India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to 7.4% from 7.3% for FY26. The quarterly projections for FY27 were also revised, with growth estimated at 6.9% and 7% in the first and second quarters of the fiscal year, respectively, up from 6.7% and 6.8%.

Traders were seen piling up positions in FMCG, Private Bank and Realty stocks, while selling was witnessed in IT, Pharma and Auto. The top gainers from the F&O segment were Hitachi Energy India, FSN E-Commerce Ventures and Life Insurance Corporation of India. On the other hand, the top losers were UNO Minda, Siemens and PB Fintech. In the index option segment, maximum OI continues to be seen in the 25900 - 26100 calls and 25400 - 25600 puts indicating this is the trading range expectation.

India Volatility Index (VIX), a gauge for market’s short-term expectation of volatility decreased by 1.86% and reached 11.94. The 50 share Nifty up by 50.90 point or 0.20% to settle at 25,693.70.

Nifty February 2026 futures closed at 25729.80 (LTP) on Friday, at a premium of 36.10 points over spot closing of 25693.70, while Nifty March 2026 futures ended at 25886.30 (LTP), at a premium of 192.60 points over spot closing. Nifty February futures saw an addition of 6,458 units, taking the total open interest (Contracts) to 2,46,291 units. The near month derivatives contract will expire on February 24, 2026. (Provisional)

From the most active contracts, ITC February 2026 futures traded at a premium of 0.10 points at 326.45 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 326.35. The numbers of contracts traded were 49,983. (Provisional)

Kaynes Technology India February 2026 futures traded at a premium of 7.50 points at 3720.50 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 3713.00. The numbers of contracts traded were 45,941. (Provisional)

Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles February 2026 futures traded at a premium of 0.90 points at 369.80 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 368.90. The numbers of contracts traded were 34,835. (Provisional)

Infosys February 2026 futures traded at a premium of 5.30 points at 1511.00 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 1505.70. The numbers of contracts traded were 30,600. (Provisional)

Tata Consultancy Services February 2026 futures traded at a premium of 9.70 points at 2950.00 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 2940.30. The numbers of contracts traded were 25,095. (Provisional)

Among, Nifty calls, 26000 SP from the February month expiry was the most active call with a contraction of 8,039 units open interests. Among Nifty puts, 25500 SP from the February month expiry was the most active put with an addition of 101 units open interests. The maximum OI outstanding for Calls was at 26000 SP (92,444 units) and that for Puts was at 25500 SP (79,660 units). The respective Support and Resistance levels of Nifty are: Resistance 25767.80 -- Pivot Point 25629.85 -- Support 25555.75.

The Nifty Put Call Ratio (PCR) finally stood at (1.17) for February month contract. The top five scrips with highest PCR on Dalmia Bharat (2.37), Patanjali Foods (1.24), Oberoi Realty (1.18), Bajaj Finance (1.13) and Computer Age Management Services (1.11).

Among most active underlying ITC witnessed an addition of 2,765 units of Open Interest in the February month future, Bharti Airtel witnessed an addition of 3,119 units of Open Interest in the February month future, Infosys witnessed an addition of 4,654 units of Open Interest in the February month futures, Kaynes Technology India witnessed an addition of 4,356 units of Open Interest in the February month futures and Multi Commodity Exchange of India witnessed an addition of 1,849 units of Open Interest in the February month futures. (Provisional).