Nifty extended gains for second consecutive session on Tuesday amid valued buying. Index made a flat-to-positive start following positive cues from other Asian market. Soon, index gained some traction as traders opted buy blue-chip stock after recent pull back by the market. Traders took support with the Commerce Ministry’s statement that India inked terms of reference with the Philippines and the Maldives to start negotiations for free trade agreements (FTAs). The terms of reference (ToR) outline the scope and modalities of a proposed trade pact. Meanwhile, Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation in its latest Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) showed that overall unemployment rate (UR) among persons aged 15 years and above fell marginally to 4.9% in February from 5% in January this year. In late morning deals, index pared most of its gains but afterwards, market started climbing to touched its intraday high point and ended the session above 23,550 mark.

Most of the sectorial indices ended in green led by Metal, Auto, and Realty. The top gainers from the F&O segment were National Aluminium Company, Steel Authority of India and Eternal. On the other hand, the top losers were Persistent Systems, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation and Tata Elxsi. In the index option segment, maximum OI continues to be seen in the 25900 - 26100 calls and 22900 - 23100 puts indicating this is the trading range expectation.

India Volatility Index (VIX), a gauge for market’s short-term expectation of volatility decreased by 8.39% and reached 19.79. The 50 share Nifty up by 172.35 point or 0.74% to settle at 23,581.15.

Nifty March 2026 futures closed at 23613.00 (LTP) on Tuesday, at a premium of 31.85 points over spot closing of 23581.15, while Nifty April 2026 futures ended at 23765.00 (LTP), at a premium of 183.85 points over spot closing. Nifty March futures saw a contraction of 1,552 units, taking the total open interest (Contracts) to 2,79,316 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 1.25 points at 844.05 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 842.80. The numbers of contracts traded were 46,508. (Provisional)

Eternal March 2026 futures traded at a discount of 0.15 points at 234.30 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 234.45. The numbers of contracts traded were 26,500. (Provisional)

ICICI Bank March 2026 futures traded at a premium of 3.50 points at 1290.50 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 1287.00. The numbers of contracts traded were 25,804. (Provisional)

Infosys March 2026 futures traded at a discount of 1.50 points at 1232.50 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 1234.00. The numbers of contracts traded were 25,381. (Provisional)

Coforge March 2026 futures traded at a discount of 4.00 points at 1076.00 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 1080.00. The numbers of contracts traded were 25,353. (Provisional)

Among, Nifty calls, 23500 SP from the March month expiry was the most active call with an addition of 5,017 units open interests. Among Nifty puts, 23500 SP from the March month expiry was the most active put with an addition of 13,485 units open interests. The maximum OI outstanding for Calls was at 26000 SP (92,832 units) and that for Puts was at 23000 SP (80,034 units). The respective Support and Resistance levels of Nifty are: Resistance 23709.77 -- Pivot Point 23528.18 -- Support 23399.57.

The Nifty Put Call Ratio (PCR) finally stood at (1.13) for March month contract. The top five scrips with highest PCR on Jindal Steel (1.10), RBL Bank (1.09), Dalmia Bharat (1.04), GAIL (India) (1.00), and BSE (0.96).

Among most active underlying ICICI Bank witnessed an addition of 6,686 units of Open Interest in the March month futures, HDFC Bank witnessed an addition of 6,805 units of Open Interest in the March month future, Reliance Industries witnessed an addition of 1,983 units of Open Interest in the March month future, Infosys witnessed an addition of 6,294 units of Open Interest in the March month futures and Eternal witnessed an addition of 3,578 units of Open Interest in the March month futures. (Provisional).