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Market trends remain highly uncertain, with sharp swings on either side leaving participants confused about the market's true direction. The only consolation as we head into the final day of the expiry is that sentiment has been severely disrupted, and any meaningful recovery in confidence is likely to take time.
Indian equities witnessed a volatile and largely corrective week from October 19 to October 23, 2026, as persistent selling pressure, weak market breadth, and heightened volatility kept benchmarks under pressure. The week began with a sharp decline on October 19, when the Nifty fell 1.11% to 22,888.95 and the Sensex dropped 876 points to close at 73,852.90.
CYIENT: Buy above ₹1235, stop ₹1175 target ₹1360 (Multiday)
ETERNAL: Buy above ₹320, stop ₹302 target ₹350 (Multiday)
MANKIND: Sell below ₹2205, stop ₹2295 target ₹2050 (Multiday)
Selling was broad-based, with FMCG, IT, and private banking stocks leading the decline, while PSU banks emerged as the only major outperformers. Broader markets also remained weak, with both midcap and smallcap indices falling around 1%, and more than 150 stocks touching fresh 52-week lows, highlighting the fragile undertone across market segments.
Following the Dussehra holiday, the market remained under pressure despite selective strength in technology stocks. On October 21, the Nifty slipped further to 22,811.35 while the Sensex ended at 73,709.69. Strong earnings-driven momentum in Infosys, TCS, HCL Technologies, and Tech Mahindra helped the IT sector outperform, but weakness across autos, metals, private banks, realty, and consumer stocks offset these gains. The broader market continued to underperform, with smallcaps and midcaps witnessing sharper declines than frontline indices. Rising India VIX levels reflected increasing nervousness among traders and investors.
From a derivatives perspective, options data indicated a cautious market setup. Significant Call Open Interest was concentrated around the 23,000 and 23,200 strikes, establishing a strong resistance zone for Nifty. On the downside, Put Open Interest accumulation was visible near the 22,500 and 22,700 strikes, suggesting these levels acted as immediate support. However, aggressive Call writing near 23,000 throughout the week signaled that traders were reluctant to price in a sustained upside move. The Put-Call Ratio remained close to neutral, indicating a lack of strong directional conviction. Rising open interest alongside falling prices also pointed to fresh short build-up, particularly in banking and broader market counters.
Technically, Nifty remained below key short-term moving averages, reflecting a corrective bias. The inability to sustain above the 23,000-mark coupled with repeated rejection near resistance zones suggested that bullish momentum remained limited. Immediate support is placed in the 22,600–22,700 region, while resistance remains clustered around 23,000–23,200. Overall, the week was characterized by selective strength in IT and PSU banks, but broader market weakness, increasing volatility, and bearish derivatives positioning kept sentiment cautious heading into the next earnings-heavy trading sessions.
Raja Venkatraman is co-founder, NeoTrader. His Sebi-registered research analyst registration no. is INH000016223.
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Raja Venkatraman is the co-founder of NeoTrader, where he heads the training division. He conducts both offline and live market workshops, seminars, and webinars. He has been working under the guidance of Dr C K Narayan, his mentor and founder of Growth Avenues, for more than 20 years. He is an active trader in multiple asset classes, and actively shares his views on YouTube, blogs at NeoTrader, and on reputed news channels and websites. His Sebi-registered research analyst registration no. is INH000016223.
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