Nifty ends slightly higher on Monday

Indian equity benchmark -- Nifty ended flat with marginal gains on Monday amid uncertainty over US-Iran deal. The index made a flat-to-positive start but failed to hold its gains and slipped below the neutral line in early deals amid rising crude oil prices in the international market. However, the index recovered all its losses and traded in positive territory for most of the session as traders took some support with Economic Affairs Secretary Anuradha Thakur’s statement that private sector investment is witnessing steady and sustained growth, supported by the government’s continued focus on capital expenditure. Further, support came as foreign institutional investors turned net buyers on August 07, they bought Indian equities worth Rs 480.24 crore. However, in the last leg of the session, the index turned volatile but eventually managed to end slightly above the neutral line. Traders were seen piling up positions in Realty, Reits & Realty and Private Bank stocks, while selling was witnessed in PSU Bank, Oil & Gas and Pharma. The top gainers from the F&O segment were Hitachi Energy India, One 97 Communications and Info Edge (India). On the other hand, the top losers were Power Finance Corporation, Bharat Forge and REC. In the index option segment, maximum OI continues to be seen in the 24900 - 25100 calls and 23900 - 24100 puts indicating this is the trading range expectation.India Volatility Index (VIX), a gauge for market’s short-term expectation of volatility increased by 1.41% and reached 12.33. The 50 share Nifty down by 13.15 point or 0.05% to settle at 24,583.80.Nifty August 2026 futures closed at 24662.00 (LTP) on Monday, at a premium of 78.20 points over spot closing of 24583.80, while Nifty September 2026 futures ended at 24793.80 (LTP), at a premium of 210.00 points over spot closing. Nifty August futures saw an addition of 1,572 units, taking the total open interest (Contracts) to 1,86,935 units. The near month derivatives contract will expire on August 25, 2026. (Provisional)From the most active contracts, State Bank of India August 2026 futures traded at a premium of 5.70 points at 1076.70 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 1071.00. The numbers of contracts traded were 28,125. (Provisional)BSE August 2026 futures traded at a premium of 28.90 points at 3625.00 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 3596.10. The numbers of contracts traded were 26,254. (Provisional)Bharat Forge August 2026 futures traded at a premium of 8.00 points at 2101.10 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 2093.10. The numbers of contracts traded were 24,635. (Provisional)Power Finance Corporation August 2026 futures traded at a premium of 1.00 points at 386.15 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 385.15. The numbers of contracts traded were 23,865. (Provisional)Infosys August 2026 futures traded at a premium of 5.50 points at 1188.50 (LTP) compared with spot closing of 1183.00. The numbers of contracts traded were 22,562. (Provisional)Among, Nifty calls, 25000 SP from the August month expiry was the most active call with an addition of 326 units open interests. Among Nifty puts, 24500 SP from the August month expiry was the most active put with an addition of 7,012 units open interests. The maximum OI outstanding for Calls was at 25000 SP (86,474 units) and that for Puts was at 24000 SP (1,36,755 units). The respective Support and Resistance levels of Nifty are: Resistance 24632.80 -- Pivot Point 24571.95 -- Support 24522.95.The Nifty Put Call Ratio (PCR) finally stood at (1.12) for August month contract. The top five scrips with highest PCR on Bajaj Auto (1.67), Hitachi Energy India (1.34), Samvardhana Motherson International (1.27), Hyundai Motor India (1.16), and Bosch (1.13).Among most active underlying One 97 Communications witnessed an addition of 4,054 units of Open Interest in the August month future, Bharat Forge witnessed an addition of 3,518 units of Open Interest in the August month future, State Bank of India witnessed an addition of 7,673 units of Open Interest in the August month future, BSE witnessed a contraction of 3,991 units of Open Interest in the August month futures and Titan Company witnessed an addition of 2,125 units of Open Interest in the August month futures. (Provisional)