Trade setup for March 14: Can Nifty test key hurdle at 16,800 soon? From market cues to technical signals to key levels to track

"This cooling off of the short-term trend was due after a sharp upmove of around 1,000 points in the previous three sessions. Further consolidation with high volatility is expected given the index is near crucial overhead resistance at 16,800-170,00 levels," he said.

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"The market appears to have all the ingredients in place for confirming a bottom, but further confirmation is awaited given the war scenario... We have already changed our stance in the last couple of sessions," Sameet Chavan, Chief Analyst-Technical and Derivatives at Angel One, told CNBCTV18.com.

"A key hurdle remains at 16,750-16,800, any sustainable move above which will confirm Tuesday’s low (15,671.5) as a bottom. On the other hand, 16,450 followed by 16,200 are immediate supports," he said.

At 7:41 am on Monday, Singapore Exchange (SGX) Nifty futures -- an early indicator of the Nifty index -- were down 66 points or 0.4 percent at 16,583.5, having dropped as much as 94.5 points earlier in the day.

Equities in other Asian markets gave up initial gains and crude oil cooled off though investors remained cautious on Russia-Ukraine talks. MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan was down 1.3 percent in early hours.

Japan's Nikkei was up 0.9 percent, but Hong Kong's Hang Seng down 2.7 percent and China's Shanghai Composite down 0.7 percent. South Korea's KOSPI was down 0.8 percent and Singapore's Straits Times 0.2 percent.

S&P 500 futures, however, were up 0.4 percent. On Friday, the three main Wall Street indices dropped 0.7-2.2 percent dragged by tech and growth shares amid Russia-Ukraine concerns.

Despite having bounced back from 15,700 to form a long bullish candle on the weekly chart in a broadly positive sign, the index is still below its 20-day simple moving average and maintains a lower top formation on the daily timeframe, said Amol Athawale, Deputy Vice President-Technical Research at Kotak Securities.

He is of the view that the Nifty50 has completed one leg of a pullback rally but market texture suggests the strong possibility of rangebound activity in the near future. Athawale expects the uptrend formation to continue unless the index slips below 16,300.

HDFC Securities' Shetti believes the short-term uptrend is intact but expects high volatility. "Weakness from the highs can't be ruled out in Monday's session. Immediate support to be watched is at 16,450," he said.

2,263.9 crore on Friday, according to provisional exchange data. However, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) made net purchases to the tune of Rs 1,686.9 crore.

Exchange data shows the maximum call open interest is accumulated at the strike price of 17,500, with more than 87,800 contracts, and the next highest at 17,000, with about 79,450 contracts. The maximum put open interest at 16,000, with almost 70,600 contracts.

This suggests the Nifty is approaching major resistance at 17,000, and has meaningful support some 630 odd points away at 16,000.

Here are four stocks that saw an increase in open interest as well as price:

(Decrease in open interest as well as price)

(Increase in price and decrease in open interest)

(Increase in open interest and decrease in price)