The Sensex closed at 18998, down 138 points from its previous close, the index touched a high and a low of 19,253.87 and 18,954.76 respectively. While Nifty shut shop at 5701, down 48 points, the index touched high and low of 5,775.25 and 5,687.70, respectively.

Nifty May 2011 futures closed at 5,719.10, at a premium of 17.80 points over spot closing of 5,701.30, while Nifty June 2011 futures were at 5,730.70 at a premium of 29.40 points over spot closing. The near month May 2011 derivatives contract expires on Thursday, May 26, 2011. Nifty May futures saw addition of 9.58% or 2.26 million (mn) units, taking the total outstanding open interest (OI) to 25.89 mn units.

Among Nifty puts, 5700 SP from the May month expiry was the most active put with an addition of 0.04mn or 1.05, The maximum Call OI outstanding was at 5800 SP (4.07) and that for Puts at 5700 SP (4.61).The respective Support and Resistance levels are: Resistance 5775.25 -- Pivot Point 5687.70 -- Support 5701.30. The Nifty Put Call Ratio (PCR) OI wise stood at 1.06 for May-month contracts.