Snapping 2-day gaining streak, Indian equity benchmark -- Nifty -- ended significantly lower on Friday as ongoing conflict and lack of resolution between US-Iran created cautious sentiments globally. Index made a gap-down start tracking mixed cues from other Asian peers. Soon, index intensified its losses and remained under pressure throughout the day as traders were cautious with persistent foreign fund outflow. As per exchange data, foreign institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 1,805.37 crore on March 25, 2026. Moreover, rising crude oil prices and depreciating rupee kept market participants on sideline. Brent crude oil prices rose to trade near $110 per barrel, whereas rupee depreciated to all-time-low of 94.86 against U.S. Dollar. Besides, cautiousness prevailed with ratings agency ICRA’s report stating that ongoing geopolitical conflict in the West Asia region has triggered a severe surge in global crude oil and natural gas prices, posing a challenge to India's fiscal position by FY2027. Further, a research by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) stated that the West Asia conflict could lower economic growth in Asia Pacific region by up to 1.3 percentage points over 2026-2027 and raise inflation by 3.2 percentage points if energy market disruptions last more than a year.

All sectorial indices ended in red. The top gainers from the F&O segment were Oracle Financial Services Software, Oil & Natural Gas Corporation and LIC Housing Finance. On the other hand, the top losers were PG Electroplast, Shriram Finance and One 97 Communications. In the index option segment, maximum OI continues to be seen in the 23900 - 24100 calls and 19000 - 20000 puts indicating this is the trading range expectation.

India Volatility Index (VIX), a gauge for market’s short-term expectation of volatility increased by 8.77% and reached 26.80. The 50 share Nifty down by 486.85 point or 2.09% to settle at 22,819.60.

Nifty March 2026 futures closed at 22801.70 (LTP) on Friday, at a discount of 17.90 points over spot closing of 22819.60, while Nifty April 2026 futures ended at 22894.80 (LTP), at a premium of 75.20 points over spot closing. Nifty March futures saw an addition of 2,007 units, taking the total open interest (Contracts) to 2,01,823 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 1.05 points at 759.00 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 757.95. The numbers of contracts traded were 159,919. (Provisional)

Reliance Industries March 2026 futures traded at a discount of 2.00 points at 1346.00 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 1348.00. The numbers of contracts traded were 69,687. (Provisional)

Infosys March 2026 futures traded at a premium of 2.70 points at 1270.20 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 1267.50. The numbers of contracts traded were 66,396. (Provisional)

ICICI Bank March 2026 futures traded at a discount of 5.10 points at 1232.80 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 1237.90. The numbers of contracts traded were 52,447. (Provisional)

Bharti Airtel March 2026 futures traded at a discount of 19.50 points at 1830.50 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 1850.00. The numbers of contracts traded were 40,912. (Provisional)

Among, Nifty calls, 23000 SP from the March month expiry was the most active call with an addition of 89,703 units open interests. Among Nifty puts, 23000 SP from the March month expiry was the most active put with a contraction of 12,405 units open interests. The maximum OI outstanding for Calls was at 24000 SP (1,53,191 units) and that for Puts was at 20000 SP (2,25,072 units). The respective Support and Resistance levels of Nifty are: Resistance 23068.95 -- Pivot Point 22936.75 -- Support 22687.40.

The Nifty Put Call Ratio (PCR) finally stood at (0.89) for March month contract. The top five scrips with highest PCR on GAIL (India) (0.99), Premier Energies (0.99), Jindal Steel (0.97), APL Apollo Tubes (0.90), and LIC Housing Finance (0.89).

Among most active underlying HDFC Bank witnessed a contraction of 6,420 units of Open Interest in the March month futures, Reliance Industries witnessed a contraction of 307 units of Open Interest in the March month future, ICICI Bank witnessed an addition of 4,810 units of Open Interest in the March month future, Bharti Airtel witnessed an addition of 9,529 units of Open Interest in the March month futures and Infosys witnessed an addition of 4,307 units of Open Interest in the March month futures. (Provisional).