Synopsis: A sharp surge in futures Open Interest across five NSE-listed stocks points to fresh directional bets being built ahead of a cluster of Q4 earnings announcements and corporate actions.
When Open Interest in futures rises sharply without a proportionate change in price, it signals that new contracts are being written, fresh money entering the derivatives market, not existing positions being shuffled around. Across five stocks on April 23–24, 2026, that pattern appeared simultaneously: OI up between 9 and 12 percent per contract, each with a distinct near-term catalyst.
The concentration in a single session is the kind of setup that precedes event-driven trades, where participants are willing to carry overnight and multi-day exposure into binary outcomes like earnings prints and dividend declarations.
Mphasis
The largest OI spike in this cohort (12.05 percent) belongs to Mphasis, whose futures positioning has tightened sharply ahead of its Q4 FY26 earnings. The board meeting, confirmed for April 29, 2026, will also consider the FY26 dividend.
At Rs. 2,189 per share, the stock trades at a market capitalization of approximately Rs. 41,783.76 crore and a P/E of 24.15, stretched relative to broader IT sector valuations, which makes FY27 guidance the pivotal variable.
Mphasis earns a significant proportion of its revenue from the BFSI vertical, and after HCL Tech’s recent quarterly miss rattled the sector, traders are positioning for a divergence trade: either Mphasis confirms the softness or its BFSI exposure proves more resilient.
Force Motors
Force Motors has recorded a 11.99 percent OI increase, even as the stock has faced some pressure from elevated crude oil prices and geopolitical friction in West Asia, which affects both transport costs and input pricing. At Rs. 20,126, the stock remains well above its 100-day and 200-day moving averages; a structural positive despite the near-term turbulence.
Force Motors, with a market cap of approximately Rs. 26,222.22 crore and a P/E of 19.77, operates in a segment (light commercial vehicles, defence vehicles, and ambulances) with high domestic demand visibility. The OI accumulation near support levels suggests traders are betting on a technical bounce or a breakout, not a breakdown.
Hindustan Zinc
The most time-sensitive setup in this list is Hindustan Zinc. Its board met on April 24 to approve Q4 FY26 results and consider a first interim dividend for FY27 making the OI surge (10.65 percent) straightforward to read: dividend capture positioning.
With the stock trading at 589.5 against a previous close of Rs. 592.1, and a market cap of Rs. 2,49,969.87 crore at a P/E of 21.20, Hindustan Zinc’s dividend yield has historically made it a recurring magnet for institutional and retail participants alike.
The recent EcoZen supply partnership with Tata Steel, a low-carbon zinc product adds a longer-term ESG-demand narrative, though the near-term trade here is almost entirely about the quantum of the interim dividend relative to market expectations. Q3 FY26 net profit grew 46.23 percent year-on-year to Rs. 3,879 crore, which gives the board meaningful headroom to declare a generous first payout.
Motilal Oswal Financial Services
A stock down nearly 40 percent from its 52-week high of Rs. 1,097.10 yet seeing a 10.64 percent surge in OI is an unusual combination and in MOFSL’s case, it reflects anticipation of a quarterly result that could validate a re-rating. The board meets April 29 to approve Q4 and FY26 results.
At approximately Rs. 776.30 per share, the stock carries a market cap of around Rs. 46,689.30 crore and a P/E of 23.55. As a brokerage and wealth management business, MOFSL’s revenue is tightly correlated with market volumes and SIP flows.
Monthly SIP collections exceeding Rs. 25,000 crore nationally make the revenue backdrop genuinely supportive. The question is whether Q4 operating leverage reflected that in the earnings.
Bharat Forge
Bharat Forge saw a 9.46 percent OI increase ahead of its May 10 results, the longest fuse in this group, which implies conviction rather than a short-cycle trade. At Rs. 1,839, the stock has a market cap of Rs. 87,839 crore and trades at a P/E of 77.95, pricing in substantial growth. The defence order book at Rs. 94.63 billion provides a strong domestic offset, but the US tariff environment introduces uncertainty for its traditional auto forgings export business.
The new e-Transmission pumps for EVs represent a structural pivot; investors will want to see whether this segment is contributing meaningfully to top-line growth or remains pre-commercial. The wide gap between the 52-week high of Rs. 1,935.50 and the current price implies the market is waiting for operational proof before re-rating.
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