Snapping its four-day gaining streak, Indian equity benchmark -- Nifty ended the session with cut of over half percent on Thursday. Index made a negative start and continued its lacklustre trade during the morning deals amid huge sell-off in IT stocks. Sentiments were downbeat due to renewed concerns about the disruption AI start-ups will have on established companies. Meanwhile, traders took note of Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) latest report showing that India's outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) commitments declined marginally by 0.78% to $3417.88 million in January 2026 as against $3444.68 million in January 2025, impacted by fall in equity investments. In second half of the session, market continued its sluggish trade in red till the end of the session. Finally, Nifty ended near 25,800 mark.

Most of the sectorial indices ended in red except Consumer Durables and Metal stocks. The top gainers from the F&O segment were Max Financial Services, Housing & Urban Development Corporation and Muthoot Finance. On the other hand, the top losers were KPIT Technologies, Coforge and Tech Mahindra. 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 increased by 1.53% and reached 11.73. The 50 share Nifty down by 146.65 point or 0.57% to settle at 25,807.20.

Nifty February 2026 futures closed at 25849.10 (LTP) on Thursday, at a premium of 41.90 points over spot closing of 25807.20, while Nifty March 2026 futures ended at 26020.50 (LTP), at a premium of 213.30 points over spot closing. Nifty February futures saw an addition of 7,036 units, taking the total open interest (Contracts) to 2,37,883 units. The near month derivatives contract will expire on February 24, 2026. (Provisional)

From the most active contracts, Infosys February 2026 futures traded at a premium of 3.20 points at 1387.30 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 1384.10. The numbers of contracts traded were 50,512. (Provisional)

Tata Consultancy Services February 2026 futures traded at a premium of 4.30 points at 2746.20 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 2741.90. The numbers of contracts traded were 44,067. (Provisional)

HDFC Bank February 2026 futures traded at a premium of 4.25 points at 924.00 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 919.75. The numbers of contracts traded were 40,170. (Provisional)

State Bank of India February 2026 futures traded at a discount of 3.00 points at 1189.00 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 1192.00. The numbers of contracts traded were 38,261. (Provisional)

Bharat Heavy Electricals February 2026 futures traded at a premium of 1.10 points at 260.70 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 259.60. The numbers of contracts traded were 35,759. (Provisional)

Among, Nifty calls, 26000 SP from the February month expiry was the most active call with an addition of 13,458 units open interests. Among Nifty puts, 25800 SP from the February month expiry was the most active put with a contraction of 128 units open interests. The maximum OI outstanding for Calls was at 26000 SP (96,244 units) and that for Puts was at 25500 SP (83,931 units). The respective Support and Resistance levels of Nifty are: Resistance 25891.80 -- Pivot Point 25822.10 -- Support 25737.50.

The Nifty Put Call Ratio (PCR) finally stood at (1.12) for February month contract. The top five scrips with highest PCR on Dalmia Bharat (2.22), PI Industries (1.45), APL Apollo Tubes (1.43), FSN E-Commerce Ventures (1.30) and Eicher Motors (1.28).

Among most active underlying State Bank of India witnessed an addition of 9,583 units of Open Interest in the February month future, Infosys witnessed an addition of 8,441 units of Open Interest in the February month future, Tata Consultancy Services witnessed an addition of 7,394 units of Open Interest in the February month futures, Hindustan Unilever witnessed an addition of 6,373 units of Open Interest in the February month futures and ICICI Bank witnessed an addition of 2,717 units of Open Interest in the February month futures. (Provisional).