Indian equity benchmark -- Nifty ended marginally higher on Thursday amid persistent US trade tariff jitters. Index made positive start as support came with renewed FII fund inflow. As per exchange data, Foreign Institutional Investors (FII) bought equities worth Rs 2,991.64 crore on Wednesday. But soon, index turned volatile and started wavering near neutral line with positive bias. Meanwhile, traders took note of Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) statement that private listed non-financial companies' revenue growth came at 10.1% in the third quarter of FY26. The data is collected from 3,188 companies. However, in second half of the session, index wiped out all its gains and entered into red terrain as traders opted to book profit. But in last leg of the trade, market staged recovery to end the session in green. 

Most of the sectorial indices ended in green led by Pharma, PSU Bank, and Oil & Gas. The top gainers from the F&O segment were Mankind Pharma, Oracle Financial Services Software and Tube Investments of India. On the other hand, the top losers were Angel One, Central Depository Services (India) and Dixon Technologies (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 3.15% and reached 13.06. The 50 share Nifty up by 14.05 point or 0.06% to settle at 25,496.55.

Nifty March 2026 futures closed at 25637.00 (LTP) on Thursday, at a premium of 140.45 points over spot closing of 25496.55, while Nifty April 2026 futures ended at 25796.40 (LTP), at a premium of 299.85 points over spot closing. Nifty March futures saw an addition of 2,743 units, taking the total open interest (Contracts) to 2,02,330 units. The near month derivatives contract will expire on March 30, 2026. (Provisional)

From the most active contracts, HDFC Bank March 2026 futures traded at a premium of 7.00 points at 903.00 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 896.00. The numbers of contracts traded were 35,516. (Provisional)

ETERNAL March 2026 futures traded at a premium of 1.45 points at 247.95 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 246.50. The numbers of contracts traded were 32,947. (Provisional)

Cholamandalam Investment and Finance Company March 2026 futures traded at a premium of 7.70 points at 1753.60 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 1745.90. The numbers of contracts traded were 32,622. (Provisional)

Infosys March 2026 futures traded at a premium of 4.20 points at 1295.20 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 1291.00. The numbers of contracts traded were 28,602. (Provisional)

State Bank of India March 2026 futures traded at a premium of 6.60 points at 1217.10 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 1210.50. The numbers of contracts traded were 24,369. (Provisional)

Among, Nifty calls, 26000 SP from the March month expiry was the most active call with an addition of 4,853 units open interests. Among Nifty puts, 25500 SP from the March month expiry was the most active put with an addition of 2,170 units open interests. The maximum OI outstanding for Calls was at 26000 SP (91,681 units) and that for Puts was at 25000 SP (1,01,373 units). The respective Support and Resistance levels of Nifty are: Resistance 25579.35 -- Pivot Point 25490.15 -- Support 25407.35.

The Nifty Put Call Ratio (PCR) finally stood at (1.30) for March month contract. The top five scrips with highest PCR on Lodha Developers (2.08), Dalmia Bharat (1.73), Cholamandalam Investment and Finance Company (1.46), Prestige Estates Projects (1.21) and REC (1.19).

Among most active underlying Cholamandalam Investment and Finance Company witnessed an addition of 4,115 units of Open Interest in the March month future, Eternal witnessed an addition of 13,423 units of Open Interest in the March month future, State Bank of India witnessed an addition of 2,820 units of Open Interest in the March month futures, HDFC Bank witnessed an addition of 17,072 units of Open Interest in the March month futures and Infosys witnessed an addition of 1,477 units of Open Interest in the March month futures. (Provisional).