BSE Sensex closed at 18512, down by 16 points, The index touched a high and a low of 18,689.37 and 18,429.06 respectively. While Nifty shut up at 5541, down by 9 points, the index touched high and low of 5,592.90 and 5,514.55, respectively.

Nifty May 2011 futures closed at 5,549.00, at a premium of 7.75 points over spot closing of 5,541.25, while Nifty June 2011 futures were at 5,558.00 at a premium of 16.75 points over spot closing. The near month May 2011 derivatives contract expires on Thursday, May 26, 2011. Nifty May futures saw addition of 4.86% or 1.22 million (mn) units, taking the total outstanding open interest (OI) to 26.52 mn units.

For Nifty calls, 5600 strike price (SP) from the May series was the most active call with an addition of 1.24 mn or 25.49%. Among Nifty puts, 5500 SP from the May month expiry was the most active put with an addition of 0.29. The maximum Call OI outstanding was at 5600 SP (6.14) and that for Puts at 5500 SP (5.46).