Question 1

Where did NIFTY close on 2 November 2026, and what was its range?

Accepted Answer

NIFTY closed at 23,440.80, with a day high of 23,440.80 and a low of 23,207.60.

Question 2

Did NIFTY stay inside the morning zones on 2 November 2026?

Accepted Answer

The morning ceiling zone was 23,470 to 23,495 and the floor zone 22,899 to 22,924. NIFTY stayed between the two zones and touched neither.

Question 3

How big a move did options price in on 2 November 2026?

Accepted Answer

The at-the-money straddle cost 167.35 points, so options priced a move of about 167 points either way. India VIX was 15.53.

Question 4

Stock market basics: what is a share, demat, T+1?

Accepted Answer

A share is a small slice of a company, and in India shares trade on the NSE and the BSE, with SEBI as the regulator. Your shares sit electronically in a demat account held at a depository such as CDSL or NSDL, and a SEBI registered broker places your orders for you. Settlement is T+1: equity shares in India settle one working day after the trade, since 27 January 2023.

Question 5

How is tax on shares calculated in India?

Accepted Answer

Listed shares held for more than a year are long term, and shares sold within a year are short term. Short-term gains on qualifying listed shares are taxed at 20%, long-term gains at 12.5%, and the first Rs 1.25 lakh of long-term gains each year is exempt. Illustrative example (our calculation): buy at Rs 2,00,000 and sell at Rs 3,50,000 after more than a year, and the Rs 25,000 left after the exemption is taxed at 12.5%, which is Rs 3,125 before cess. Securities transaction tax is charged on the trade itself, at 0.1% on delivery buys and sells from 1 April 2026.

Question 6

How many F&O traders lose money, according to SEBI?

Accepted Answer

In FY26, 87.7% of individual traders in the equity derivatives segment were loss-making, down from 90.9% in FY25. Their aggregate net loss was Rs 91,685 crore in FY26, down 18% on the year before, and options made up 92% of individual losses. About 23% of traders accounted for nearly 90% of total losses.

Question 7

What is an option, in simple words?

Accepted Answer

An option is the right, but not the obligation, to buy (a call) or sell (a put) at a fixed price until a fixed expiry date, and the buyer pays a premium for that right. The buyer's loss is limited to the premium; a call seller's loss can be unlimited. Nifty options trade in lots, currently 65 units, and weekly Nifty options expire on Tuesdays. Illustrative example (our calculation): a Nifty call with a 24,000 strike at Rs 100 a unit costs Rs 6,500 for one lot of 65 units.

Question 8

Why can an ETF trade away from its NAV?

Accepted Answer

An ETF's NAV is the value of everything inside the fund, worked out once a day, while its price moves with every trade on the exchange. During the day the iNAV gives a live estimate, and for equity ETFs it must update within 15 seconds of the underlying market. The gap grows when trading is thin, and two checks keep it in line: every ETF needs at least two market makers quoting prices, and large players can create or redeem units directly with the fund. Illustrative example (our calculation): a NAV of Rs 100 and a price of Rs 110 is a 10% premium.

Question 9

What is VWAP?

Accepted Answer

VWAP, or volume weighted average price, is the average price paid for a stock today, with each price counted by the volume traded at it, and it starts again every session. It shows where trading happened and does not signal where price goes next. Illustrative example (our calculation): three candles near 100, 110 and 105 on volumes of 100, 300 and 100 give a VWAP of 107, against a simple average of 105. NSE's closing auction uses the VWAP of trades from 3:00 to 3:15 pm as the reference price for stocks in it.

Question 10

How do I read NIFTY's daily data?

Accepted Answer

Read the spot level, India VIX (the market's expected swing over the next month, annualised), the put-call ratio (put open interest divided by call open interest), the OI ceiling and floor (the strikes with the most call and put open interest), and the at-the-money straddle (the market's price for the day's move). Daksh data for 16 October 2026 at 15:25 shows spot 23,119, India VIX 14.1, put-call ratio 1.08, ceiling 23,100, floor 23,000, and a straddle of 186 points, an expected move of about 149 points. These numbers describe positioning; they do not show which way price will move.

Question 11

Does trading psychology matter more than position size?

Accepted Answer

Position size is the bigger driver, in Daksh Analytics' view: a trader with no plan feels every loss as personal, while a small size makes the same moves feel like noise. Illustrative example (our calculation): after ten losses in a row, an account risking 1% a trade keeps about 90.4% of its value, while one risking 10% keeps about 34.9%, and a 50% loss needs a 100% gain to get back to the start. Write three rules before trading: the maximum risk per trade, the maximum loss per day, and when to step away.

Question 12

Are AI stock valuations stretched? What regulators said

Accepted Answer

The Bank of England's December 2025 Financial Stability Report said many risky asset valuations remain materially stretched, particularly for technology firms focused on AI, and that the Magnificent Seven make up over a third of the S&P 500. The IMF's April 2026 Global Financial Stability Report said forward price-to-earnings ratios were approaching historically high levels, and that a small set of firms increasingly drives equity markets. Neither report names India, gives a date for a correction, or says one will happen; they describe risk.

Question 13

What caused the 1987 crash?

Accepted Answer

Black Monday, 19 October 1987, saw the Dow fall 22.6%, or 508 points, in one session. Many large investors used portfolio insurance, which meant selling stock index futures as prices fell, and after midday the order link between futures and stocks stopped being useful, so the selling fed on itself. The Brady task force called it an illusion of liquidity, because everyone sold on the same side at once. Within two sessions the Dow had won back 57% of the fall, and no recession followed.

Market questions, answered

Where did NIFTY close on 2 November 2026, and what was its range?

Did NIFTY stay inside the morning zones on 2 November 2026?

How big a move did options price in on 2 November 2026?

Where did NIFTY close on 30 October 2026, and what was its range?

Did NIFTY stay inside the morning zones on 30 October 2026?

How big a move did options price in on 30 October 2026?

Where did NIFTY close on 29 October 2026, and what was its range?

Did NIFTY stay inside the morning zones on 29 October 2026?

How big a move did options price in on 29 October 2026?

Where did NIFTY close on 28 October 2026, and what was its range?

Did NIFTY stay inside the morning zones on 28 October 2026?

How big a move did options price in on 28 October 2026?

Where did NIFTY close on 27 October 2026, and what was its range?

Did NIFTY stay inside the morning zones on 27 October 2026?