Caution rings among investors as India-Pak tensions escalate

The Nifty put-call ratio hit 1.89, the highest since data has been collated, reflecting heightened caution

- Ram Sahgal

Markets which had so far discounted a full-fledged war between India and Pakistan seem to have raised a note of caution in the last two-and-a-half hours of trade on Thursday, when news surfaced of India thwarting Pakistan's missile attack on 15 of its military installations on the intervening night of 7-8 May.

The escalation followed multiple air strikes conducted by India on Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in the wee hours of Wednesday to avenge the massacre of 26 tourists in Pahalgam by Pakistan-backed terrorists on 22 April.

The aggregate Nifty put-call ratio (PCR) hit 1.89 on Thursday, the highest since the data has been collated on this variable from 1 April 2021, by analytics firm IndiaCharts. This means for every 100 calls traded on Thursday, 189 puts changed hands.