What is a good PCR for Nifty?

A Put-Call Ratio above 1.30 reads as oversold / bullish (more puts written than calls), 0.80–1.30 is neutral, and below 0.80 reads as overbought / bearish. MarketCue weights PCR as a fixed 20% of its Market Bias score regardless of days to expiry.

What does max pain mean in options?

Max Pain is the strike price at which option writers as a group would lose the least money at expiry. Price often gravitates toward this level as expiry approaches, so MarketCue reads the distance between spot and Max Pain as a directional pull: more than 0.3% below Max Pain suggests an upward pull, within ±0.3% suggests pinning, and more than 0.3% above suggests a downward pull.

How does India VIX affect option buying?

India VIX sets the day’s risk posture. MarketCue reads 11–14 as the ideal, lowest-risk range for buying premium; below 11 as thin, theta-heavy premium; 14–18 as elevated; 18–22 as high with IV-crush risk; and above 22 as a level that blocks fresh option-buying strategies specifically, while selling strategies (credit spreads, iron condors) remain allowed.

What is option readiness?

Option Readiness is MarketCue’s Stage 2 score, summing the India VIX score, the IV-vs-VIX score, and the Days-to-Expiry score into a single number from -4 to +6. That total maps to Good to Buy, Caution, or Avoid — telling you whether today’s volatility conditions favor buying options at all, independent of which direction Market Bias points.

How often does MarketCue update its read?

MarketCue publishes a pre-market read before the open and a post-market read after the close, every trading day — both generated by the same documented rules engine, not a discretionary call.

Playbook — Detailed Reference

The MarketCue playbook

The full set of rules the intelligence layer is trained on: the weighted Market Bias score, the combined Option Readiness score, the Bias/IV/VIX/DTE strategy map, and how predicted open, expected move, targets and stop-losses are calculated. Every view starts here. It may weigh a signal differently on a given day — an expiry, an event, a gap into a wall of open interest — and when it does, it says which one and why.

Read how the intelligence layer uses this through a day, or see it applied in the daily Nifty & Sensex Today reads. For the inputs themselves: what the put-call ratio counts, how max pain is computed, and what India VIX measures.

1. Market Bias — Gap %

Gap % measures the difference between today's opening level and the previous close. It is one of four weighted inputs to the Stage 1 Market Bias score, contributing 45% of the total when DTE is greater than 3 days and 25% when DTE is 3 days or fewer.

Market Bias — Gap % — scoring rules and score values
Gap %	Reading	Score
> 0.75%	Strong Gap Up	+2
0.25% – 0.75%	Normal Gap Up	+1
-0.25% to 0.25%	Flat	0
-0.75% to -0.25%	Normal Gap Down	-1
<-0.75%	Strong Gap Down	-2

2. Market Bias — Open Interest Structure

OI change at key support and resistance strikes is a proxy for whether a level is being defended or abandoned. The support component and the resistance component are each scored, then summed and clamped to a range of -2 to +2. This combined OI score contributes 25% of Market Bias when DTE is greater than 3 days and 45% when DTE is 3 days or fewer — the single largest weight of any input close to expiry.

Market Bias — Open Interest Structure — scoring rules and score values
OI Signal	Reading	Component score
Support: Addition	Support strengthening	+1
Support: Unwinding	Support weakening — breakdown risk	-1
Resistance: Addition	Resistance strengthening	-1
Resistance: Unwinding	Resistance weakening — breakout risk	+1

3. Market Bias — PCR (Put-Call Ratio)

PCR reads options positioning: a high ratio means more puts are written relative to calls, typically a contrarian bullish signal. It contributes a fixed 20% of Market Bias regardless of DTE.

Market Bias — PCR (Put-Call Ratio) — scoring rules and score values
PCR	Reading	Score
> 1.30	Oversold / Bullish bias	+2
0.80 – 1.30	Neutral	0
< 0.80	Overbought / Bearish bias	-2

4. Market Bias — Max Pain

Max Pain is the strike at which option writers lose the least at expiry. Price often gravitates toward this level as expiry approaches. It contributes a fixed 10% of Market Bias regardless of DTE.

Market Bias — Max Pain — scoring rules and score values
Spot vs Max Pain	Reading	Score
Below by >0.3%	Upward pull likely toward expiry	+1
Within ±0.3%	Pinning likely	0
Above by >0.3%	Downward pull likely toward expiry	-1

5. Market Bias — Weights by DTE

Each of the four signals above is weighted differently depending on how many days remain to expiry. Closer to expiry, Open Interest structure becomes the dominant signal and Gap % is discounted; further from expiry, the reverse is true.

Market Bias — Weights by DTE — scoring rules and score values
Days to expiry	Weights
> 3 days	Gap 45% · OI 25% · PCR 20% · Max Pain 10%
≤ 3 days	Gap 25% · OI 45% · PCR 20% · Max Pain 10%

6. Market Bias — Final Bands

The four component scores are multiplied by their DTE-appropriate weights and summed into a single Market Bias score, then mapped to one of five bands.

Market Bias — Final Bands — scoring rules and score values
Bias score	Label
+1.25 to +2.00	Strong Bullish
+0.50 to +1.24	Bullish
-0.49 to +0.49	Neutral
-0.50 to -1.24	Bearish
-1.25 to -2.00	Strong Bearish

7. Option Readiness — VIX Score

India VIX sets the overall risk posture for the day. It is the first of three inputs summed into the Stage 2 Option Readiness score.

Option Readiness — VIX Score — scoring rules and score values
India VIX	Reading	Score
11 – 14	Ideal, low-risk premium	+2
Below 11	Thin, theta-heavy premium	+1
14 – 18	Elevated premium	0
18 – 22	High — IV crush risk	-1
Above 22	Blocks fresh option buying only — selling strategies stay allowed	-2

8. Option Readiness — IV vs VIX

Compare the ATM implied volatility against India VIX, using a proportional band around VIX rather than a fixed point gap, to judge whether the premium is cheap, fairly priced, or expensive.

Option Readiness — IV vs VIX — scoring rules and score values
Condition	Reading	Score
IV < VIX × 0.9	Cheap	+2
IV ≤ VIX × 1.1	Normal	+1
IV > VIX × 1.1	Expensive	-1

9. Option Readiness — DTE Score

Time to expiry governs gamma risk and is the third input to Option Readiness. Note this DTE score is separate from — and does not override — the Stage 3 strategy pick; it only feeds the readiness total below.

Option Readiness — DTE Score — scoring rules and score values
DTE	Reading	Score
2 – 4	Ideal window	+2
> 4	Lower gamma risk	+1
≤ 1	High gamma risk	-1

10. Option Readiness — Final Bands

The VIX, IV-vs-VIX, and DTE scores are summed (range -4 to +6) into a single Option Readiness score. An Avoid reading forces No Trade for Stage 3 regardless of what Market Bias says.

Option Readiness — Final Bands — scoring rules and score values
Readiness score	Label
+4 to +6	Good to Buy
+1 to +3	Caution
≤ 0	Avoid

11. Strategy Recommendation

Stage 3 matches the Market Bias band against the Option Readiness IV Condition, VIX, and DTE to pick a strategy. VIX above 22 blocks fresh premium-buying strategies only — credit/selling strategies stay allowed. A DTE of 1 or fewer downgrades Naked Call/Put to the matching Debit Spread rather than blocking the trade outright. Each "No Trade" outcome carries its own specific reason (for example, cheap IV with no edge to sell versus fairly priced IV with no directional edge) rather than one generic message.

Strategy Recommendation — scoring rules and score values
Condition	Recommendation
Bullish + Cheap IV + Good to Buy (normal VIX)	Naked Call (→ Call Debit Spread if DTE ≤ 1)
Bullish + Cheap/Normal IV	Call Debit Spread
Bullish + Expensive IV, or high VIX	Put Credit Spread
Bearish + Cheap IV + Good to Buy (normal VIX)	Naked Put (→ Put Debit Spread if DTE ≤ 1)
Bearish + Cheap/Normal IV	Put Debit Spread
Bearish + Expensive IV, or high VIX	Call Credit Spread
Neutral + Cheap IV	No Trade / Wait
Neutral + Normal IV	No Trade / Wait
Neutral + Expensive IV	Iron Condor
Neutral + High VIX	Iron Condor

12. Predicted Open, Expected Move & Targets

Convert volatility inputs into a concrete points target, stop-loss, and book profit/stop for buyer and seller strategies alike. Lot size and net premium remain trader-entered values.

GIFT Nifty predicted open

Predicted (points) = GIFT Nifty gap % ÷ 100 × NIFTY previous closeDifference = actual opening gap (points) − predicted. SENSEX has no equivalent leading indicator.

Expected move (Conservative / Aggressive)

Option-implied = ATM Straddle Price ÷ √(max(DTE, 1))Historical = 5-day average daily range (High − Low). Conservative = the smaller of the two estimates; Aggressive = the larger.

Target / stop-loss — buyer strategies

Naked Call/Put, Debit Spread: Target/Stop = Expected Move (points) × the strike’s effective deltaNet premium plays no role here — identical regardless of what premium was actually paid.

Target / stop-loss — seller strategies

Credit Spread, Iron Condor: Conservative Target = Net Premium × 60%, Conservative Stop = Net Premium × 40%Aggressive Target = Net Premium × 75%, Aggressive Stop = Net Premium × 25%.

Book profit / book stop — buyer strategies

Book Profit = Target (points) × Qty × 60%Book Stop = Stop (points) × Qty × 40%

Book profit / book stop — seller strategies

Book Profit = Target × QtyBook Stop = Stop × Qty — no extra split, since the 60/40–75/25 split already happened at the Target/Stop-loss level.

Methodology noteMarket Bias, Option Readiness, and Strategy Recommendation are fully rule-based — there is no discretionary Trend-vs-Range judgment call. VIX above 22 only blocks fresh option buying; selling strategies remain available at any VIX level, and a DTE of 1 or fewer only downgrades naked options to the matching debit spread rather than forcing a spread or Iron Condor across the board.

Frequently asked questions

What is a good PCR for Nifty?: A Put-Call Ratio above 1.30 reads as oversold / bullish (more puts written than calls), 0.80–1.30 is neutral, and below 0.80 reads as overbought / bearish. MarketCue weights PCR as a fixed 20% of its Market Bias score regardless of days to expiry.
What does max pain mean in options?: Max Pain is the strike price at which option writers as a group would lose the least money at expiry. Price often gravitates toward this level as expiry approaches, so MarketCue reads the distance between spot and Max Pain as a directional pull: more than 0.3% below Max Pain suggests an upward pull, within ±0.3% suggests pinning, and more than 0.3% above suggests a downward pull.
How does India VIX affect option buying?: India VIX sets the day’s risk posture. MarketCue reads 11–14 as the ideal, lowest-risk range for buying premium; below 11 as thin, theta-heavy premium; 14–18 as elevated; 18–22 as high with IV-crush risk; and above 22 as a level that blocks fresh option-buying strategies specifically, while selling strategies (credit spreads, iron condors) remain allowed.
What is option readiness?: Option Readiness is MarketCue’s Stage 2 score, summing the India VIX score, the IV-vs-VIX score, and the Days-to-Expiry score into a single number from -4 to +6. That total maps to Good to Buy, Caution, or Avoid — telling you whether today’s volatility conditions favor buying options at all, independent of which direction Market Bias points.
How often does MarketCue update its read?: MarketCue publishes a pre-market read before the open and a post-market read after the close, every trading day — both generated by the same documented rules engine, not a discretionary call.