IT stocks were under pressure in Wednesday's trade, with most stocks in the sector trading lower. Persistent Systems fell 1.29%, followed by Sonata Software at 1.02% and KPIT Technologies at 0.85%. Coforge and Oracle Financial Services Software each declined 0.76%, while Tata Elxsi fell 0.75%.
Newgen Software Technologies, Zensar Technologies, Wipro, Tata Consultancy Services and Infosys were also among the stocks trading lower. TCS fell 0.55%, Infosys declined 0.53% and Wipro lost 0.65%.
Tech Mahindra was the strongest performer among the stocks shown, rising 0.52%, while Birlasoft gained 0.06%. HCLTech fell 0.16%, Hexaware Technologies declined 0.22% and Happiest Minds Technologies slipped 0.41%.
F&O activity
The futures and options data showed sizeable call open interest across major IT stocks, with notable positions at key strikes for TCS, Infosys and Wipro.
For TCS, the weekly options data showed the highest call open interest at the 2,500 strike at about 1.95 million contracts. The 2,600 and 2,800 strikes also had sizeable call open interest. On the put side, the 2,400 strike had about 830,000 contracts, followed by the 2,300 and 2,200 strikes.
The open interest change showed a sharp rise in call open interest at the 2,600 and 2,800 strikes, while the 2,500 strike saw a decline in call open interest. Put open interest also fell sharply at the 2,400 strike.
For Infosys, the monthly options data showed the highest call open interest at the 1,200 strike, at about 5.7 million contracts. The 1,100 strike had about 4.2 million call contracts, while put open interest was highest at the 1,100 strike at about 4.9 million contracts.
Infosys also saw a large increase in call open interest at the 1,200 strike, while put open interest increased at the same strike.
Stock-wise activity
Wipro's monthly options data showed about 13.6 million call contracts at the 200 strike, compared with about 1.9 million put contracts at the same strike. The 200 strike also recorded a large increase in call open interest.
HCLTech showed a different pattern. Put open interest increased sharply at the 1,300 strike, while call open interest fell at the 1,400 strike. The 1,400 strike had the highest call open interest at about 760,000 contracts, while put open interest was highest at the 1,100 strike at about 500,000 contracts.
The wider futures data also showed declines in several IT stocks. LTM fell 0.44%, while Tata Elxsi declined 0.35%, Infosys fell 0.30% and TCS slipped 0.29%.
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