At 3:30 on Thursday the Sensex expiry settled at 73832, after the 73500 cushion held its first test by just 19 points. The board went quiet for the week. Then overnight the world ripped. Korea rose 7.77 percent in a single session, Japan added 3.8, the Nasdaq bounced 2.54 percent after two days of tech selling, and GIFT Nifty points to a gap up of roughly 250 points, an open near 23400, straight into the ceiling that option sellers spent two days building. One desk walks into that open short 267000 index futures contracts, with a whole weekend to carry.

Thursday looked calm and was not. Nifty closed 23161, down 53, between 23072 and 23327. The Sensex tested 73519, held, climbed to 74394 by lunch, then got sold 560 points into the 73832 settle. Underneath, 992 stocks advanced and 2439 declined. IT fell 1.6 percent with Infosys down 2.7, bank ...