Trade setup for today: 15 things to know before opening bell

Nifty likely to consolidate between 22,300-22,500

The market continued to consolidate in a tight range for last three sessions, especially after hitting a new high on the Nifty 50 in the start of current week. Hence, unless and until the index decisively surpasses 22,500 in coming sessions, the consolidation may continue with the immediate support at 22,300 level, experts said, adding above 22,500, 22,700-22,800 are the levels to watch on the higher side.

On April 3, the benchmark indices ended moderately lower after consolidation. The BSE Sensex declined 27 points to 73,877, while the Nifty 50 fell 19 points to 22,435 and formed bullish candlestick pattern with upper shadow on the daily charts, but overall, the indices still traded above all key moving averages.

"The benchmark Nifty 50 seems confined in a narrow range of 200-250 odd points from 22,300-22,500 and a decisive breakthrough on either side would only trigger a fresh round of move," said Osho Krishan, senior analyst - technical & derivative research at Angel One.

On the lower end, he feels 22,350-22,300 remains the cushion for intraday blips, with sacrosanct support of 22,200 in the comparable period. While on the higher end, 22,500 remains a daunting task for the bulls, and a sustainable breakthrough could only trigger the next leg of the rally in the near term, he said.

According to Ashwin Ramani, derivatives & technical analyst at Samco Securities, the Nifty is unlikely to move up unless Call writers exit from the 22,500 strike in Nifty.

Meanwhile, the consistent decline in India VIX, the fear index, for three consecutive sessions has put bulls in a comfortable position as it was down 2.4 percent at 11.37 level, the lowest level since November 24, 2023.

The broader markets remained higher for yet another session as the Nifty Midcap 100 and Smallcap 100 indices gained half a percent and 1.2 percent respectively.

Key support and resistance levels on Nifty

The pivot point calculator indicates that the Nifty 50 may face resistance at the 22,501 level followed by the 22,542 and 22,609 levels. On the lower side, the index may take immediate support at the 22,367 level followed by 22,326 and 22,260 levels.

Bank Nifty

On April 3, the Bank Nifty recouped its previous day's losses and closed 79 points higher at 47,624. The banking index has formed bullish candlestick pattern on the daily charts with healthy volumes on the weekly expiry day, and continued to get support at downward sloping resistance trendline for third straight session. Further, the index remained above all key moving averages.

The rally was majorly supported by public sector banking stocks, which surged beyond their respective resistance levels indicating a potential shift in momentum. The feature indicators RSI (relative strength index) and MACD (moving average convergence divergence) indicates positive stance in the daily time frame, Om Mehra, technical analyst at Samco Securities said.

The immediate support for the Bank Nifty remains at 47,200 while resistance is placed at 48,200 level, he feels.

According to the pivot point calculator, the Bank Nifty index may see resistance at 47,679, followed by 47,772 and 47,924. On the lower side, it is expected to take support at 47,375 followed by 47,282 and 47,130.

Call options data

As per the weekly options data, the 22,500 strike owned the maximum Call open interest, with 1.25 crore contracts, which can act as a key resistance level for the Nifty in the short term. It was followed by the 23,000 strike, which had 1.05 crore contracts, while the 22,800 strike had 99.13 lakh contracts.

Meaningful Call writing was seen at the 22,800 strike, which added 45.23 lakh contracts followed by 22,700 strike and 22,600 strike, which added 36.98 lakh and 32.15 lakh contracts, respectively.

The maximum Call unwinding was at the 23,200 strike, which shed 12.41 lakh contracts followed by 23,500 and 22,000 strikes, which shed 3.71 lakh contracts and 2.58 lakh contracts, respectively.

Put option data

On the Put side, the maximum open interest was seen at 22,000 strike, which can act as a key support level for the Nifty with 1.09 crore contracts. It was followed by the 22,100 strike comprising 91.94 lakh contracts and then the 22,200 strike with 79.69 lakh contracts.

Meaningful Put writing was at the 22,000 strike, which added 41.62 lakh contracts followed by the 22,100 strike and 22,400 strike adding 35.1 lakh and 27.38 lakh contracts, respectively.

Put unwinding was seen at 21,800 strike, which shed 12.44 lakh contracts followed by 22,500 and 21,900 strikes, which shed 5.64 lakh and 4.52 lakh contracts, respectively.

Stocks with high delivery percentage

A high delivery percentage suggests that investors are showing interest in the stock. Shree Cement, Ipca Laboratories, Jubilant Foodworks, SBI Life Insurance Company, and Dabur India saw the highest delivery among the F&O stocks.

50 stocks see long build-up

A long build-up was seen in 50 stocks, which included Laurus Labs, AU Small Finance Bank, NTPC, National Aluminium Company, and Can Fin Homes. An increase in open interest (OI) and price indicates a build-up of long positions.

29 stocks see long unwinding

Based on the OI percentage, 29 stocks saw long unwinding, which included Dixon Technologies, Cholamandalam Investment & Finance, Vedanta, Adani Ports, and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries. A decline in OI and price indicates long unwinding.

69 stocks see a short build-up

A short build-up was seen in 69 stocks, including Nestle India, Kotak Mahindra Bank, DLF, Deepak Nitrite, and Godrej Properties. An increase in OI, along with a fall in price points to a build-up of short positions.

38 stocks see a short covering

Based on the OI percentage, a total of 38 stocks were on the short-covering list. These included Hindustan Copper, Petronet LNG, Mahindra & Mahindra, L&T Finance Holdings, and ONGC. A decrease in OI along with a price increase is an indication of short-covering.

Put Call Ratio

The Nifty Put Call ratio (PCR), which indicates the mood of the equity market, dropped to 0.95 on April 3, from 1.00 levels in the previous session.

The increasing PCR or higher than 0.7 or surpassing 1 means the traders are selling more Put options than Calls options, which generally indicates increasing bullish sentiment in the market, whereas the ratio falling below 0.7 or moving down towards 0.5 means that selling in Calls is higher than selling Puts, indicating the bearish sentiment in the market.

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Avenue Supermarts: The D-Mart operator recorded standalone revenue at Rs 12,393.46 crore for the quarter ended March FY24, growing 19.9 percent over Rs 10,337.12 crore in year-ago period.

Suryoday Small Finance Bank: The bank has reported advances at Rs 8,650 crore for the quarter ended March FY24 (including inter bank participatory certificates (IBPC) of Rs 400 crore), growing 14 percent over previous quarter and 41 percent over a year-ago period.

L&T Finance Holdings: The retail loan book at the end of Q4FY24 is estimated at around Rs 80,010 crore, growing 31 percent over a year-ago period, while retail disbursements during the quarter at Rs 15,030 crore increased by 33 percent YoY.

KEC International: The infrastructure EPC major has received new orders of Rs 816 crore across its various businesses including orders for supply of towers in the United States of America, setting up steel plant in Northern India and plant for carbon derivates in Eastern India.

Federal Bank: The bank said as per provisional numbers, gross advances grew by 20 percent to Rs 2,12,758 crore in March FY24 quarter. Total deposits reached to Rs 2,52,583 crore, growing 18.4 percent over same period last fiscal.

RBL Bank: The private sector lender has recorded deposits at Rs 1,03,454 crore for the quarter ended March FY24, growing 22 percent over year-ago period and 12 percent over previous quarter, as per provisional numbers. Advances for the quarter stood at Rs 85,640 crore, increasing 19 percent YoY and 5 percent QoQ.

FII and DII data

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net sold shares worth Rs 2,213.56 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) purchased Rs 1,102.41 crore worth of stocks on April 3, provisional data from the NSE showed.

The NSE has added SAIL and Zee Entertainment Enterprises to the F&O ban list for April 4, while retaining Hindustan Copper to the said list.

Securities banned under the F&O segment include companies where derivative contracts cross 95 percent of the market-wide position limit.