Under the futures and options (F&O) segment, thirteen stocks were banned from trade on Wednesday, February 21, by the National Stock Exchange (NSE). The securities banned for the F&O trade are Balrampur Chini Mills, Bandhan Bank, Biocon Ltd, Canara Bank, GMR Airports Infra, Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers and Chemicals (GNFC), Hindustan Copper, India Cements, Indus Towers, National Aluminium Co, RBL Bank, Steel Authority Of India (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. 

Biocon was retained on the list from Tuesday as the open interest as a percentage of the MWPL of its F&O contracts stood at 93.3%. Hindustan Copper’s derivative contracts’ open interest was 86.9% of its MWPL on February 20, compared to 92.1% for National Aluminium. 

Indus Towers and India Cements saw the open interest for their F&O contracts touch 96.3% and 82.5% of their respective MWPLs, respectively. At Tuesday’s closing time, the open interest for Canara Bank and Bandhan Bank’s derivatives contracts was 86.2% and 86.7% of their respective MWPLs, respectively. 

The open interest for SAIL’s derivative contracts stood at 80.1% of its MWPL at Tuesday’s closing time, while that of ZEEL was 86.7%. All the above securities were retained on the list from Tuesday, February 20. 

Balrampur Chini, GMR Airports, GNFC and RBL Bank were added to the list on Wednesday as the open interest of their F&O contracts reached 109.5%, 96.7%, 98.8% and 107.5%, 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 F&O contracts of Aditya Birla Fashion and Ashok Leyland declined below the 80% limit to 75% and 79.2%, respectively. Hence, they were exited from the list on Wednesday. 

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.