Daily digest / NIFTY 50 / 2026-10-21 · this week
NIFTY 50 · Wednesday 21 Oct 2026 · close
22,735 -154.3 (-0.67%)
2nd straight down dayExpiry Tue 27 Oct · 4 sessions

Early sell-off, closes near the lows

NIFTY 50 slid 424 pts from 23,110 at 09:45 to 22,686 by 14:45 IST. Put writers added the most fresh OI at 22,700 (+19.1 L), right where the low held. Call writers built positions at 22,800–23,100, led by 23,000 (+66.3 L). Max pain moved from 23,000 to 22,900, following price down. PCR fell from 0.88 to 0.70.

Spot Max pain 22,700 support PCR 15-min · IST
Open22,897
High · 09:3623,135
Low · 14:4722,663
Avg PCR0.80
Max pain22,900

Key levels into expiry

23,000 Call wall · 163.2 L OI · Fresh calls +66.3 L resistance
22,900 Max pain magnet
22,800 Fresh calls +54.5 L cap
22,735 Close ●
22,700 Fresh puts +19.1 L · held the low support
22,000 Fresh puts +17.6 L · Put wall · 97.1 L OI support

Where writers added today

23,000
+66.3 L
22,800
+54.5 L
23,100
+52.7 L
22,700
+19.1 L
22,000
+17.6 L
22,200
+16.9 L
■ calls   ■ puts · OI change from the first snapshot to the close, strikes near spot

Move vs what options priced

Weekly ATM straddle at open341
Session range472
One session moved 1.4× the weekly straddle's full priced move.

Last 6 sessions

10-13 22,722 —
PCR 1.24
MP 22,700 10-14 22,613 -109
PCR 1.05
MP 22,600 10-15 22,951 +338
PCR 1.60
MP 22,900 10-16 23,092 +141
PCR 1.42
MP 23,050 10-19 22,889 -203
PCR 0.92
MP 22,900 10-21 22,735 -154
PCR 0.80
MP 22,900

Max pain: strike where option buyers lose most at expiry. Fresh OI: positions opened this session. PCR: put OI ÷ call OI.

Descriptive summaries of recorded option-chain data. Not trading signals or advice. Disclaimer →

Related reading

PCR explained →

How put-call ratio is calculated and when it misleads.

Max pain theory →

Why max pain matters near expiry.

OI buildup →

Reading the four OI patterns.

All NIFTY 50 sessions · Indices hub · Live terminal →