Nifty Open Interest (OI) data shows the highest OI on the call side at the 23,600 and 23,700 strike prices, highlighting strong resistance levels.
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The BSE Sensex was trading at 77,219.96, down 68.54 points (0.09 per cent), while the NSE Nifty 50 stood at 23,454.30, down 32.55 points (0.14 per cent). This follows a weak closing on Wednesday, where the Nifty 50 ended 0.77 per cent lower at 23,486.85, and the Sensex declined 0.93 per cent to 77,288.50, breaking a seven-session winning streak.
The decline was primarily driven by profit-booking in heavyweight banking and financial stocks, with HDFC Bank and Reliance Industries both losing ground. Additionally, concerns over potential U.S. tariffs have weighed on investor sentiment.
Market Outlook and Support Levels
Ajit Mishra, SVP, Research at Religare Broking Ltd, noted that investors are booking profits ahead of the March derivatives contract expiry, while concerns over tariff discussions are weighing on sentiment. He highlighted that Nifty is approaching its key support zone near the major moving averages ribbon around 23,400. A decisive hold at this level could trigger the next leg of the uptrend; otherwise, the consolidation phase may persist. Despite prevailing challenges, he maintains a positive market outlook and recommends a stock-specific approach, focusing on those demonstrating relative strength.
Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Investments Limited, commented, “With the onset of FIIs inflow, revival in domestic fundamentals and favourable valuation, the market is expected to trade with more stability.” Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth Rs 2,240.55 crore on Wednesday, and Rs 21,377.38 crore over the last five sessions, according to provisional data.
Technical Levels to Watch
Bajaj Broking Research expects the index to consolidate in the range of 23,850-23,200, working off the overbought conditions that developed after a sharp rally of 1,900 points in just 15 sessions. They believe the current breather should be used as a buying opportunity in quality stocks in a staggered manner, anticipating an up move towards 24,100-24,200 levels in the coming sessions, which coincides with the high of January 2025 and 50 per cent retracement of the entire decline (26,277-21,965).
Sundar Kewat, Technical and Derivatives Analyst at Ashika Institutional Equity, observed that after a robust rally, the market is now experiencing consolidation and profit-booking. He noted, “With global uncertainties looming large and sectoral weakness creeping in, investors are likely to remain watchful in the sessions ahead.”
Nifty Open Interest Data
Nifty Open Interest (OI) data shows the highest OI on the call side at the 23,600 and 23,700 strike prices, highlighting strong resistance levels. On the put side, OI is concentrated at the 23,300 strike price, marking it as a key support level, according to Hardik Matalia, Derivative Analyst at Choice Broking.
Nifty 50 Prediction
Nifty 50 slipped into decline by breaking the trot of consecutive seven sessions of rise on March 26 and closed the day lower by 181 points. Nagaraj Shetti, Senior Technical Research Analyst at HDFC Securities, stated, “A long bear candle was formed on the daily chart, which is indicating a beginning of short-term downward correction in the market, after a sharp rise. The bullish chart pattern like higher tops and bottoms have started to form on the daily chart and present weakness could be in line with the new higher bottom formation.” According to him, the market is in a healthy downward correction and one may expect the Nifty 50 to bounce back shortly after forming a higher bottom. “The next lower supports are placed around 23,400 – 23,200 levels. Any bounce from near the support could challenge the key hurdle again at 23,800 levels,” Shetti said.
Bank Nifty Prediction
Bank Nifty, after an initial upmove, witnessed heavy profit booking and settled the day lower by 398.95 points, or 0.77 per cent, at 51,209. Hrishikesh Yedve, AVP Technical and Derivatives Research at Asit C. Mehta Investment Interrmediates Ltd, commented, “Technically, Bank Nifty formed a red candle on the daily chart, indicating weakness. On the downside, the 200-Days Simple Moving Average (200-DSMA), placed near 50,990, will act as key support for the index, followed by the recent breakout point of 50,640. On the upside, 51,880 and 52,000 will act as strong resistance levels. Traders should monitor these levels for potential trading opportunities.”
Bajaj Broking Research highlighted that the Bank Nifty index witnessed corrective decline for the second session in a row ahead of the monthly expiry session on Thursday. They expect the index to consolidate in the range of 52,000 – 50,500, thus forming a base for the next leg of up move and in the process work off the overbought condition developed in the daily stochastic. They believe the current breather should be used to accumulate quality banking stocks as they expect the index to sustain above the recent major breakout area of 50,500 and gradually head towards 53,000 levels in coming weeks, being the measuring implication of the last 10 weeks
