Stock Market BSE Index closed at 18327, down with 0.77%, The index touched a high and a low of 18,430.84 and 18,261.26. While S&P CNX Nifty closed at 5494.40, with down .66%, The index touched high of 5516.30 and a low of 5468.45 respectively.

The 50-share S&P CNX Nifty finally settled at 5,494.40 after losing 36.60 points or 0.66%. Nifty March 2011 futures closed at 5,508.40 at a premium of 14.00 over spot closing of 5,494.40, while Nifty April 2011 futures were at 5,528.40 at a premium of 34.00 points over spot closing. The near month March 2011 derivatives contract expire on Thursday, March 31, 2011. Nifty March futures saw an addition of 8.21% or 1.79 million (mn) units, taking the total outstanding open interest (OI) to 23.72 mn units.

For Nifty calls, 5600 strike price (SP) from the March series was the most active call with a contraction of 0.06 mn or 1.03%. Among Nifty puts, 5400 SP from the March month expiry was the most active put with an addition of 0.92 mn or 10.50%. The maximum Call OI outstanding was at 5600 SP (6.40) and that for Puts at 5400 SP (9.75). The respective Support and Resistance levels are: Resistance 5517.65 --Pivot Point 5,493.05--Support 5,469.80. The Nifty Put Call Ratio (PCR) OI wise stood at 1.34 for March-month contracts.