Stocks · Market intelligence desk
Strategy builderMarket closed
Opens Monday 09:15Market regime:falling

The Close — Fri 18 Sep 2026

NIFTY edged up at 23,346, +0.33% on the session while SENSEX closed lower.

End of dayIndex close Fri 18 Sep · 15:30 ISTOption chain and structure Fri 18 SepOvernight Fri 18 Sep · read 08:00 IST

What matters today
  • India VIX11.37
    calm

    With the option market calm, NIFTY has moved about 1.3% either way over the following five sessions — 521 past cases.

  • GIFT Nifty overnight−0.06%
    read Fri 18 Sep

    After overnight moves like this, NIFTY has opened the same way 75 times in 100, and the opening gap has typically been about 70 points — over 108 past mornings.

  • Next event3 days
    NIFTY weekly expiry

    On days of this kind NIFTY has moved about 0.51% either way, and moved more than 1% on 20 of every 100 — over 308 past cases.

NIFTYBANKNIFTYSENSEX
The last sixty sessions

Where SENSEX has been, with every level drawn on it

the week, the month and the levels' record
60 sessions · daily candles · the levels that have heldR1 75,474 · weekly tooWeekly R 74,534 · last weekly swingS1 73,981 · still formingWeekly S 73,220 · last weekly swingbroke up through 77,492broke down through 76,259broke up through 78,283broke down through 76,82374,295 close25 Jun14 Jul30 Jul17 Aug2 Sep
The option writers

Where SENSEX's open contracts sit against the close

the full chain
Open interest by strikeMonthly expiry · Thu 24 Sep · 6 days to go · PCR 1.22
calls writtenputs written74,50074,500 calls — 8,46,060 contracts open75,00075,000 calls — 5,01,640 contracts open74,60074,600 calls — 3,19,140 contracts open74,50074,500 puts — 10,09,000 contracts open74,60074,600 puts — 4,82,820 contracts open74,40074,400 puts — 4,61,400 contracts open74,295
PCR over the weekputs open against calls open, the front contract, one dot a session
even · 1.001.21Fri 110.71Tue 151.19Wed 160.98Thu 171.23Fri 18
Priced to expirypriced ±800 pts (about 1.1%)the at-the-money straddle on Thu 24 Sep, as points either side of 74,295What each structure is exposed toEleven structures, priced on this boardthe payoff, the breakevens, the Greeks and what each carries into expiry
Overnight and the world

What moved while India was shut

every series
Overnight · GIFT Nifty
−0.06%23,319
read Fri 18 Sep · 08:00 IST · a futures contract, so its move is not NIFTY's opening move
Typical open after a move like this
23,345
Middle half of those mornings
23,325 – 23,386
NIFTY closed
23,346
Mornings counted
26
GIFT overnight against NIFTY's openGIFT overnightNIFTY's opening gap
0%+1.2%−1.2%−0.02%−0.88%+0.35%+0.76%+0.08%+0.36%−0.19%−0.10%−0.06%+0.28%
  • morningGIFT readNIFTY openedgap
  • 11 Sep23,45623,270−208
  • 15 Sep23,52523,576+178
  • 16 Sep23,22023,202+83
  • 17 Sep23,22323,195−22
  • 18 Sep23,31923,335+64

GIFT is its change on its own previous close, read before the bell; NIFTY is where it opened against its own previous close. GIFT is a futures contract and sits at its own level, so the bars compare the two MOVES and the table gives the two prices. A record of five mornings that have already opened.

USD / INR
INR 96.13
to the dollar
Thu 17 Sep
that market's own close
a session behind the others
▲ +0.15%
the rupee — foreign flows are priced in it
Brent crude
USD 104.82
per barrel
Thu 17 Sep
that market's own close
a session behind the others
▼ −0.95%
crude, which India imports
Gold
USD 4,387.80
an ounce
Fri 18 Sep
read 08:00 IST
▼ −0.27%
the haven bid, quoted through the Indian morning
Foreign investors

How much of the foreign index-futures book is long

12.6% long87.4% shortFri 18 Sep
usual · 12% long11.2%Fri 1112.1%Tue 1512.4%Wed 1612.3%Thu 1712.6%Fri 18

Most of the time this book has been about 12% long. Today it is 12.6% long — 1.4 points less short than a week ago.

Long48,406Short3,36,834Net−2,88,428

In options: 2,68,402 more calls written than held; 6,30,453 more puts held than written.

In cash

In cash, foreign investors bought INR 600 cr on Fri 18 Sep while domestic funds bought INR 1,020 cr. They have been net sellers on 4 of the last 5 sessions. Buying shares and adding futures longs together is the shape of conviction.

Calendar

What is coming

  • Tue 22 SepNIFTY weekly expiryExpiry
  • Thu 24 SepSENSEX monthly expiryExpiry
  • Tue 29 SepBANKNIFTY monthly expiryExpiry
  • Tue 29 SepNIFTY monthly expiryExpiry
  • Thu 1 OctSENSEX weekly expiryExpiry
  • Tue 6 OctNIFTY weekly expiryExpiry
  • Wed 7 OctRBI MPC decision (meeting 05 Oct–07 Oct 2026)Policy
  • Thu 8 OctSENSEX weekly expiryExpiry

The full calendar, with what these dates have meant before →