F&O Manual | Selling pressure drags indices lower; Nifty trading around crucial support of 21,850

Indian benchmark indices were trading lower on March 19 as strong selling pressure has dampened the bullish sentiment. Nifty is currently trading around the crucial support zone of 21,850-21,880, marked by a rising trend-line and the 50-Day EMA zone, which has been defended multiple times in the last 3-4 weeks. According to experts, any sustained movement below the level of 21,850 will likely trigger further selling pressure, pushing the index down to the 21,750-21,680 level.

At 12:20 hrs IST on Tuesday, Sensex was down by 652.69 points, or 0.9 percent, at 72,095.73, while the Nifty was down by 213.80 points, or 0.97 percent, at 21,841.90. Among the stocks, 1,056 advanced, 2,204 declined, and 91 remained unchanged.

Options data indicates that call writers are dominant for the day. Sudeep Shah, DVP and Head of Derivative and Technical Research at SBI Securities, said: "Nifty 21,850-21,880 serves as crucial support for the index, being a rising trend-line support zone and the 50-Day EMA zone, which has been defended multiple times in the last 3-4 weeks. A sustained move below the level of 21,850 will likely result in additional selling pressure, pushing the index towards the 21,750-21,680 level."