Removing previous session’s gains, Indian equity benchmark -- Nifty ended lower with cut of over one and half percent on Wednesday amid lingering West Asia conflict and recoup crude oil price weighted on market sentiments. After making cautious start, index intensified losses and continued its southward journey till the end of the session. Meanwhile, traders opted to remined on sideline amid ongoing geopolitical developments. Some cautiousness came with sustained foreign fund outflow. As per exchange data, foreign institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 4,672.64 crore on Tuesday. Besides, market participants remained cautious as the rating agency ICRA’s report stated that escalating conflict in West Asia could pose downside risks to India's economic growth outlook if the conflict persists. It expects India's real GDP growth to be around 7.1 per cent in FY2027, slightly lower than the 7.6 per cent estimated for FY2026.

Most of the sectorial indices ended in red led by Auto, Private Bank, and PSU Bank. The top gainers from the F&O segment were Premier Energies, Astral and Blue Star. On the other hand, the top losers were Colgate Palmolive (India), TVS Motor Company and Bajaj Finance. In the index option segment, maximum OI continues to be seen in the 25900 - 26100 calls and 23900 - 24100 puts indicating this is the trading range expectation.

India Volatility Index (VIX), a gauge for market’s short-term expectation of volatility increased by 11.41% and reached 21.06. The 50 share Nifty down by 394.75 point or 1.63% to settle at 23,866.85.

Nifty March 2026 futures closed at 23918.00 (LTP) on Wednesday, at a premium of 51.15 points over spot closing of 23866.85, while Nifty April 2026 futures ended at 24077.40 (LTP), at a premium of 210.55 points over spot closing. Nifty March futures saw an addition of 20,410 units, taking the total open interest (Contracts) to 2,87,605 units. The near month derivatives contract will expire on March 30, 2026. (Provisional)

From the most active contracts, Reliance Industries March 2026 futures traded at a premium of 0.30 points at 1387.10 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 1386.80. The numbers of contracts traded were 48,501. (Provisional)

HDFC Bank March 2026 futures traded at a premium of 3.40 points at 837.80 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 834.40. The numbers of contracts traded were 44,367. (Provisional)

Dixon Technologies (India) March 2026 futures traded at a discount of 30.00 points at 10550.00 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 10580.00. The numbers of contracts traded were 27,028. (Provisional)

Axis Bank March 2026 futures traded at a premium of 3.80 points at 1257.80 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 1254.00. The numbers of contracts traded were 20,713. (Provisional)

InterGlobe Aviation March 2026 futures traded at a discount of 0.10 points at 4350.10 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 4350.20. The numbers of contracts traded were 20,592. (Provisional)

Among, Nifty calls, 25000 SP from the March month expiry was the most active call with an addition of 5,175 units open interests. Among Nifty puts, 23000 SP from the March month expiry was the most active put with a contraction of 9,833 units open interests. The maximum OI outstanding for Calls was at 26000 SP (1,02,339 units) and that for Puts was at 24000 SP (94,024 units). The respective Support and Resistance levels of Nifty are: Resistance 24165.80 -- Pivot Point 24000.05 -- Support 23701.10.

The Nifty Put Call Ratio (PCR) finally stood at (1.10) for March month contract. The top five scrips with highest PCR on Dalmia Bharat (1.21), RBL Bank (1.12), REC (1.04), GAIL (India) (1.03), and Jindal Steel (1.02).

Among most active underlying Reliance Industries witnessed an addition of 5,214 units of Open Interest in the March month future, HDFC Bank witnessed an addition of 8,353 units of Open Interest in the March month future, Axis Bank witnessed an addition of 1,571 units of Open Interest in the March month futures, Dixon Technologies (India) witnessed an addition of 4,347 units of Open Interest in the March month futures and ICICI Bank witnessed an addition of 2,856 units of Open Interest in the March month futures. (Provisional).