Under the futures and options (F&O) segment, ten stocks were banned from trade on Thursday, February 8, by the National Stock Exchange (NSE). The securities banned for the F&O trade are Ashok Leyland, Balrampur Chini Mills, Delta Corp, Hindustan Copper, India Cements, Indus Towers, National Aluminium Co, Steel Authority Of India (SAIL), UPL Ltd 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.

Hindustan Copper and ZEEL were retained on the list from Wednesday as the open interest as a percentage of the MWPL of their F&O contracts stood at 93.8% and 81.9%, respectively. Indus Towers and India Cements saw the open interest for their F&O contracts touch 112.9% and 100.6% of their respective MWPLs, respectively.

National Aluminium’s derivative contracts’ open interest was 84.5% of its MWPL on February 7, compared to 87.4% for UPL. The open interest for Ashok Leyland’s derivative contracts stood at 99.3% of its MWPL at Wednesday’s closing time.

All the above securities were retained on the list from Wednesday, February 7. Balrampur Chini, Delta Corp and SAIL were added to the list on Thursday as the open interest of its F&O contracts reached 106%, 111.4% and 108.7%, 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 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.