Three sectoral indices touched 52 week highs on Wednesday. Power closed up 3.27%. Capital Goods up 3.21%. Metal up 1.74%. And the Sensex closed down 141.90 points. The headline said red. The chart said something else. One stock did the damage. HDFCBANK down 2.63% ate roughly 260 Sensex points by itself. Strip that ticker out and the Sensex closed up Wednesday.

After the close, the market gets Friday. And Friday gets the carry of a holiday-shortened week, a Saturday, and a Sunday. Three calendar days of news risk into a market that is pricing calm. India VIX closed at 15.24, the first sub-15 print of this cycle. Tuesday was 16.22. Monday was 16.84. The cost of insurance just collapsed.

In the option chain, the magnet is at 23900. The cushion below runs 23800 to 23700, where put writers have been selling the floor. The first real obstac ...