CNBC-TV18's Head-Markets Research, Anuj Singhal: Thursday was such a disappointment. A session that flattered to deceive again. The last 30 minutes of trade put paid to all hopes of a breakout and if that evidence is anything to go by, there is no reason to believe that we will break out of the 4500-4800 range any time soon.

However we have a couple of important macro numbers today. The inflation number and the IIP data, which have the power to take market out of this, range either way.

With 4800 emerging as equilibrium, looking at 4800 straddle can be a good idea. The total premium is Rs 260 and which makes the range for Nifty at 4540-5060 and if your conviction is that regardless of the macro data and the Infosys numbers that follow these, this market may not move out of this range, than writing this straddle can be a good idea. Conversely if one believes that something has to give in and the market will make move wither way, then you can buy the straddle. Of course for the straddle buyer, the maximum risk is Rs 260 per contract while for a seller the risk is unlimited but then option writers always take pride in being savvier than the buyers

One interesting angle to Thursday’s trade was the way Reliance group stocks moved. In fact the top 5 traded stocks in F&O belonged to Reliance group and history tells us that it may not be such a bad news. Of course Orchid was completely out of the radar. After being the top traded counter for 3 days, it was not even in top 10. As I had written yesterday, some sanity may have prevailed among traders that the run for now might be over for the stock

Another theme that emerged in Thursday’s trade was profit booking. It was interesting to see Suzlon, Ranbaxy and HUL coming off. And that’s because these 3 have been the strongest index stocks lately. In fact Ranbaxy and HUL have been hitting 52-week highs and Suzlon has rallied close to 25% in a matter of 2-3 weeks. Conversely, some of the beaten down stocks like Punj Lloyd and Neyveli saw some buying. This trend of beaten down stocks giving technical bounce and high fliers cooling off may continue

DISCLAIMER: The author is not allowed to trade in equity markets including Futures and Options. His only exposure to capital markets is via shares of TV18 and Network18 granted to him as ESOPs by the company and investments in some long-term mutual funds.