Indian equity benchmark -- Nifty -- wiped out previous session’s gains and ended the session near its crucial 22,500 mark on Monday as geopolitical tension intensified following US President Donald Trump’s ultimatum to Iran. US President Donald Trump warned that US would destroy Iran's power plants if the country didn't open the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours. In retaliation, Iran also threatened to strike energy infrastructure in the Middle East. Index made a gap-down start and remained under pressure throughout the day as traders were cautious with the Confederation of Indian Industry’s (CII) report stating that Indian companies are facing disruptions ranging from shipment delays to shortages of key raw materials due to the ongoing West Asia conflict, and highlighted growing stress across sectors dependent on global trade flows. Further, persistent foreign fund outflows made investors jittery. As per exchange data, foreign institutional investors offloaded equity worth Rs 5,518.39 crore on March 20, 2026. Besides, according to government data India’s production growth in eight core infrastructure sectors slowed down to 2.3 per cent in February 2026 from 3.4 per cent in the same month last year.

All sectorial indices ended in red. The top gainers from the F&O segment were HCL Technologies, Power Grid Corporation of India and Coforge. On the other hand, the top losers were Lodha Developers, Steel Authority of India and Petronet LNG. In the index option segment, maximum OI continues to be seen in the 25900 - 26100 calls and 21900 - 22100 puts indicating this is the trading range expectation.

India Volatility Index (VIX), a gauge for market’s short-term expectation of volatility increased by 17.17% and reached 26.73. The 50 share Nifty down by 601.85 point or 2.60% to settle at 22,512.65.

Nifty March 2026 futures closed at 22497.80 (LTP) on Monday, at a discount of 14.85 points over spot closing of 22512.65, while Nifty April 2026 futures ended at 22625.10 (LTP), at a premium of 112.45 points over spot closing. Nifty March futures saw an addition of 7,121 units, taking the total open interest (Contracts) to 2,71,170 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 1.10 points at 743.40 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 742.30. The numbers of contracts traded were 89,957. (Provisional)

Infosys March 2026 futures traded at a discount of 7.00 points at 1246.00 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 1253.00. The numbers of contracts traded were 43,376. (Provisional)

Reliance Industries March 2026 futures traded at a premium of 0.20 points at 1404.20 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 1404.00. The numbers of contracts traded were 35,971. (Provisional)

Tata Consultancy Services March 2026 futures traded at a premium of 1.40 points at 2381.40 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 2380.00. The numbers of contracts traded were 30,825. (Provisional)

ICICI Bank March 2026 futures traded at a discount of 3.30 points at 1221.70 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 1225.00. The numbers of contracts traded were 23,763. (Provisional)

Among, Nifty calls, 23500 SP from the March month expiry was the most active call with an addition of 7,870 units open interests. Among Nifty puts, 22500 SP from the March month expiry was the most active put with an addition of 20,221 units open interests. The maximum OI outstanding for Calls was at 26000 SP (84,070 units) and that for Puts was at 22000 SP (79,758 units). The respective Support and Resistance levels of Nifty are: Resistance 22752.48 -- Pivot Point 22611.87 -- Support 22372.03.

The Nifty Put Call Ratio (PCR) finally stood at (0.98) for March month contract. The top five scrips with highest PCR on GAIL (India) (1.05), Jindal Steel (0.95), RBL Bank (0.95), Premier Energies (0.92), and Petronet LNG (0.86).

Among most active underlying HDFC Bank witnessed an addition of 20,714 units of Open Interest in the March month futures, Reliance Industries witnessed an addition of 7,878 units of Open Interest in the March month future, Infosys witnessed an addition of 11,405 units of Open Interest in the March month future, ICICI Bank witnessed an addition of 5,005 units of Open Interest in the March month futures and State Bank of India witnessed an addition of 3,960 units of Open Interest in the March month futures. (Provisional).