Under the futures and options (F&O) segment, seven stocks were banned from trade on Monday, December 18, by the National Stock Exchange (NSE). The securities banned for the F&O trade are Balrampur Chini Mills, Delta Corp, Hindustan Copper, India Cements, Manappuram Finance, Steel Authority Of India Ltd (SAIL) and Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL). 

Derivative contracts of these stocks were banned as the open market interest for these securities has crossed 95% of the market-wide position limit (MWPL) set by the exchanges. The MWPL is the maximum number of contracts that can be opened at any particular time. 

Delta Corp and Balrampur Chini were retained on the list as the open interest as a percentage of the MWPL of their F&O contracts stood at 81.6% and 108.8%, respectively, on December 14. On Friday, the F&O contracts of Manappuram Finance witnessed their open interest at 99.6% of their MWPL. 

The open interest for the derivative contracts of Hindustan Copper stood at 92.8% of its MWPL at Friday’s closing time, while that of India Cements was 88.3%. SAIL and ZEEL saw the open interest for their F&O contracts touch 106.3% and 86.4% of their respective MWPLs, respectively. 

All the above securities were retained on the list from Friday, December 15. 

The ban will be lifted once the position falls below 80%. Traders will get penalised for buying or selling these securities. They will be available for trading in the cash market.

The open interest for the F&O contracts of Indiabulls Housing Finance declined below the 80% limit to 75.9%. Hence, it was exited from the list on Monday. 

The National Stock Exchange updates the list of securities on the F&O ban list daily. This list serves as a guide for traders and investors in the market. Traders who trade in indices do not encounter a situation of security ban.