HDFCLIFE Options — Where Positioning Sits Today

Where HDFCLIFE open interest sits

The heaviest call open interest is at the 550 strike, holding 42,62,500 contracts — 19.8% of all HDFCLIFE call open interest on the board, 3.03% above the spot of 534. Call open interest concentrated above price is commonly read as resistance, on the reasoning that writers there are defending the level. It is a crowding observation, not a rule — the level holds until that open interest unwinds.

On the put side the weight is at 510 with 24,81,600 contracts, 18.9% of HDFCLIFE put open interest, 4.46% below spot. Put open interest concentrated below price is usually treated as support for the same reason, and breaks the same way.

New to this? Read the Open Interest guide — how to read it, with worked examples.

What HDFCLIFE's PCR is saying

HDFCLIFE is carrying 1,30,98,800 contracts of put open interest against 2,14,86,300 of call, a put-call ratio of 0.61 — mildly call-heavy positioning. PCR has no universally good value; it is read against its own recent range, and the direction it is moving carries more than the level.

It opened the session at 0.61 and has held to 0.61 — a move of 0.00. That is effectively flat: positioning has not changed sides today.

New to this? Read the PCR guide — how to read it, with worked examples.

HDFCLIFE against its max pain

Max pain for HDFCLIFE computes to 545, with spot at 534 — 2.10% below it. That strike is where the total value of all open contracts expiring would be lowest. It is arithmetic on the current open interest distribution, not a forecast, and the distribution keeps changing.

The pain curve around it is flat — the neighbouring strikes cost writers only 1.4% more than 545 does. A basin that shallow means several strikes are near-equally cheap to settle at, so the level is a weak magnet and small shifts in open interest can move it.

There are 21 sessions to expiry. This far out the figure moves as positions roll, and it is least informative early in a series — worth watching for direction of travel rather than as a target.

New to this? Read the Max Pain guide — how to read it, with worked examples.

What changed in HDFCLIFE today

The biggest unwind is −1,100 put contracts at 460. Positions closing matters as much as positions opening — a level defended by open interest stops being defended when that open interest leaves, and a break through a strike that is unwinding is a different event from a break against one that is intact.

Change is measured against this session's opening snapshot rather than the previous close, so the overnight gap and the positions rolled at the open do not swamp the reading.

New to this? Read the OI Change guide — how to read it, with worked examples.

The move priced into HDFCLIFE

The at-the-money straddle on HDFCLIFE costs 22.30 — 10.50 for the call and 11.80 for the put at the 535 strike. That sum is what the market charges to be covered in either direction, which makes it the move being priced in: about 4.18% of spot, or roughly 513 to 557 by expiry on a breakeven basis.

The straddle has moved 0.0% since the open. That is close to flat, so today's decay and any volatility move have roughly offset.

Implied volatility at the money is 21.3% on the call and 22.3% on the put. The put carries 1.0 points more, the usual shape when downside protection is bid up relative to upside.

New to this? Read the ATM Premium guide — how to read it, with worked examples.