On Thursday, July 30, the day of Sensex monthly expiry, the BSE Sensex opened on a flat note near 77,638 and traded in a narrow band through the session. The index touched an intraday high of 77,737 before slipping to a low of 77,440, reflecting a cautious undertone as participants squared off positions ahead of expiry. Around 11:00 AM, the Sensex was trading near 77,627, down nearly 27 points, or 0.03%.
Sensex Monthly Expiry Options Data Signals Cautious Tone
The options data indicate a broadly range-bound undertone for the expiry session. The Put Call Ratio (PCR) across all expiries stood at 1.45, suggesting stronger put writing compared to call writing, though the bias remains mildly positive. The Max Pain level was placed at 77,600.
On the put (PE) side, the 77,500 PE strike witnessed the highest open interest addition so far, followed by the 77,600 PE and 77,400 PE strikes, making the 77,400–77,600 zone important support for the remaining part of the session. The 77,500 PE strike also holds the highest overall open interest concentration, followed by the 77,600 PE and 77,400 PE strikes. This indicates that put writers are actively strengthening the support base close to the current market price.
Call Writers Active Near Immediate Resistance
On the call side, the 78,000 CE strike recorded the highest open interest addition on the monthly expiry day, followed by the 77,700 CE and 77,800 CE strikes. The overall call open interest concentration is highest at the 78,000 CE strike, followed by 77,700 CE and 77,800 CE.
The data clearly shows that while put writers are becoming active at lower levels, call writers are also defending the immediate resistance zone near 77,700–78,000. Hence, the next move will largely depend on whether the Sensex is able to sustain above this supply zone.
Key Resistance Zone for Sensex: 77,700–78,000
From a technical perspective, the Sensex faces strong resistance in the 77,700–78,000 range. This zone is important because the highest call open interest concentration is placed around these strikes, along with fresh call writing during the session. As long as the index remains below this band, call writers are likely to stay aggressive around the 77,700 CE, 77,800 CE, and 78,000 CE strikes.
However, a sustained move above the 77,700–78,000 zone could trigger short-covering by call writers. In that case, the index may attempt to move towards the 78,000 mark, which is the next major resistance based on options data.
