The new F&O expiry week that opened today, is a holiday-shortened week, as markets would remain closed on 14 April on account of Ambedkar Jayanti and Mahavir Jayanti. Hence, weekly futures and options will expire on Wednesday, 13th April 2022, instead of Thursday. Weekly futures and options contracts expire every week on Thursday, as a fixed standard expiry day for the stock markets. However, if any Thursday is a trading holiday, where the stock market remains closed, then the previous day or the Wednesday is considered the expiry day. Stock markets usually witness high volatility as the expiry day marks the closure of F&O contracts.
Similarly, the next week’s F&O expiry week would start from Monday 18 April instead of Friday, as stock markets will observe a holiday on 15th April, on the occasion of Good Friday; those contracts would expire on the following Thursday, 21 April.
Domestic equity markets ended fragile yesterday amid weak global market setup and volatility on account of weekly expiry. Nifty was unable to sustain above the 18000 mark and reversed its gains from Tuesday onwards. NSE Nifty 50 index settled 7th April expiry on a negative note, falling 168 points or 0.94 per cent to finish at 17,639. Bank Nifty also failed to hold gains and closed marginally lower at 37,557. India VIX (the volatility index) which indicates the degree of volatility traders expect over the next 30 days in the Nifty 50 index, ended at 19 levels, down 0.13 per cent.
On the back of mixed global sentiment and other domestic events, such as Q4 earnings, macroeconomic data release (CPI and IIP numbers), “Nifty may trade within 17250-18000 range,” Ajit Mishra, VP – Research, Religare Broking, told .com. Mishra advised traders to continue with the “buy on dips” approach in Bank Nifty and utilise a dip around 36,700 to create fresh longs.