Weekly F&O Context — Sunday, 5 July 2026

First Hour Approach — Week of 5 July 2026

The opening hour sets the tone but rarely the direction. Watch how price behaves relative to the previous day's pivot and the overnight gap before committing size.

What to check before the bell

• Gap size vs. previous day's range — a gap larger than 40% of yesterday's range often fills or extends decisively, not both.
• Where the open prints relative to R1/S1 and the daily pivot. Openings inside the pivot–R1 band tend to produce range days; opens beyond R1 or S1 skew trending.
• Prior day's close location — a close in the top or bottom 15% of the range often carries follow-through into the first 30 minutes.

First 60 minutes — read, don't react

• Let the opening range (first 15–30 min) form. Note its high, low, and where the pivot sits inside or outside it.
• If the opening range is unusually narrow versus the recent 5-day average, expect an expansion move — direction unclear until a clean break holds.
• Volume in the first hour matters more than price. Low-volume drifts near pivot rarely sustain; high-volume rejection at R1/S1 is actionable context.

Levels to keep on screen

Refresh daily pivot, R1/R2 and S1/S2 each morning via the Nifty pivot calculator. Pair these with the opening range boundaries — the interaction between the two is usually where the day's character reveals itself.

Bias comes after confirmation, not at the open. First hour is for gathering information; the trade sets up in the second.