Under the futures and options (F&O) segment, thirteen stocks were banned from trade on Thursday, January 18, by the National Stock Exchange (NSE). The securities banned for the F&O trade are Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail, Ashok Leyland, Bandhan Bank, Chambal Fertilizers, Delta Corp, Hindustan Copper, Indian Energy Exchange (IEX), Metropolis Healthcare, National Aluminium Co, Polycab India, PVR Inox, 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. 

Aditya Birla Fashion and Bandhan Bank were retained on the list as the open interest as a percentage of the MWPL of their F&O contracts stood at 90.4% and 81.8%, respectively, on January 17. Delta Corp and Hindustan Copper saw the open interest for their F&O contracts touch 86.5% and 85.6% of their respective MWPLs, respectively. 

The open interest for Ashok Leyland’s derivative contracts stood at 87.1% of its MWPL at Wednesday’s closing time, while that of National Aluminium was 111.5%. Polycab’s derivative contract open interest was 99% of its MWPL. 

The combined open interest for the derivatives contracts of Chambal Fertilizers and Metropolis Healthcare stood at 81.2% and 86.1% of their MWPL, respectively, on January 17. At Tuesday’s closing time, the open interest for PVR Inox and ZEEL’s derivatives contracts was 84.5% and 95.5% of their respective MWPLs, respectively. 

All the above securities were retained on the list from Wednesday, January 17. Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) and Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) were added to the list on Thursday as the open interest of its F&O contracts reached 99.7% and 96.4%, respectively. 

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 Biocon Ltd, India Cements, Indus Towers and Piramal Enterprises declined below the 80% limit to 77.4%, 77.1%, 79.4% and 78.6%, respectively. Hence, they were exited from the list on Thursday. 

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.