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Nifty on Monday ended 32 points higher to form a small positive candle on the daily chart with minor upper and lower shadow. During the day, the index managed to hold on to the support zone of 21,900 – 21,850 where support parameters in the form of the 40-day average and the previous swing low were placed.The short-term trend of Nifty remains positive with range-bound action. A decisive break below the support of 21,900-21,850 is likely to drag the index down to 21,500 levels in a quick period. Any upside bounce from here could encounter strong hurdles around 22,200 levels, said Nagaraj Shetti of HDFC Securities.Open Interest (OI) data showed the call side had the highest OI at 22,200 strike price, followed by 22,500 strike price. On the put side, the highest OI was observed at the 21,800 strike price.What should traders do? Here’s what analysts said:Rupak De, LKP SecuritiesNifty remained volatile throughout the day, oscillating between 21,900 and 22,100. Bulls have thus far managed to defend the 21,900 level successfully. However, a dip below 21,900 could strengthen the bears' position, although for now, any downturn is being met with buying activity. On the upside, a sustained upward movement beyond 22,100 may propel the index towards 22,250 and beyond. Support is established at 21,900, below which the index might decline towards 21,700.Ajit Mishra, Religare BrokingThe recent price action in Nifty shows indecisiveness among the participants and frequent breakout failures on the stock-specific front further adding to their worries. We thus feel it is prudent to limit positions in the current scenario and wait for clarity over the next directional move. Jatin Gedia, SharekhanNifty is still trading in the range 21,900 – 22,200 since the last three trading sessions and a decisive breach shall lead to trending moves in that direction. So, until the support zone is held, we can expect the positive momentum to resume. In terms of levels, 22,215 – 22,250 is the immediate hurdle zone while 21,900 – 21,860 is the crucial support.Tejas Shah, Technical Research, JM Financial & BlinkXNifty is trading around a make-or-break support zone of 21,850 to 22,000 levels and any decisive close below the same can trigger 1% to 2% fall in Nifty on an immediate basis or else chances of a bounce back from this support zone is very high.(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)

India's net sugar production fell marginally to 280.79 lakh tonnes till March 15 of the current marketing year that started in October 2023, according to trade data released on Monday. Sugar marketing year runs from October to September. "Sugar production till 15th March 2024 in the current 2023-24 season reached 280.79 lakh tonnes, against 282.60 lakh tonnes produced last year on the corresponding date," Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) said in a statement. Number of factories operating as on March 15 this year stood at 371 as against 325 mills on the same day last year. In Uttar Pradesh, sugar production stood at 88.40 lakh tonnes as against 79.63 lakh tonnes during the period under review. Sugar output in Maharashtra fell marginally to 100.50 lakh tonnes from 101.92 lakh tonnes, while production in Karnataka declined to 47.55 lakh tonnes from 53.50 lakh tonnes. Recently, ISMA has pegged sugar production at around 323 lakh tonnes for the 2023-24 marketing year after the diversion of 17 lakh tonnes towards ethanol manufacturing via sugarcane juice/B-heavy molasses. The net sugar production stood at 328.2 lakh tonnes during the 2022-23 marketing year with a diversion of 38 lakh tonnes of sweetener for ethanol-making from sugarcane juice and B-heavy molasses. Last week, ISMA revised its estimates for gross production of the sweetener upwards by 9.5 lakh tonnes to 340 lakh tonnes in the marketing year ending September. The gross sugar output stood at 366.2 lakh tonnes in the previous year. In January, the association had projected the gross sugar production, without any diversion for ethanol, at 330.5 lakh tonnes in the 2023-24 marketing year. Last month, the central government decided to hike Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) -- the minimum price that mills have to pay to sugarcane growers -- by Rs 25 to Rs 340 per quintal for the 2024-25 season starting October 2024. "This decision of the central government is going to benefit more than 5 crore sugarcane farmers (including family members) and lakhs of other persons involved in the sugar sector," an official statement had said. Sugarcane is grown mainly in Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, and Karnataka.