Under the futures and options (F&O) segment, twelve stocks were banned from trade on Friday, 17 May by the National Stock Exchange (NSE). The securities banned for the F&O trade are Balrampur Chini Mills, Bandhan Bank, Biocon, Birlasoft Limited, GMR Airports, Granules India, Hindustan Copper, Vodafone Idea, The India Cement, Piramal Enterprises, Steel Authority of India, and Zee Entertainment Enterprise. 

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. 

Vodafone Idea, Biocon, and Birlasoft were retained on the list from Thursday as the open interest as a percentage of the MWPL of their F&O contracts stood at 85.6%, 91.9%, and 84.7%, respectively. Balrampur Chini Mills derivative contracts’ open interest was 87% of its MWPL on 17 May, compared to 84.7% for GMR Airports and 82.8% for Steel Authority of India. 

Piramal Enterprise, Hindustan Copper, and Zee Entertainment were also retained on the F&O ban list, and the open interest of their MWPL contracts stood at 93.6%, 82.4%, and 92.8%, respectively. Furthermore, Granules India and The India Cement were also retained on the list, as their open interest is 91.3% and 95%, respectively. 

The above securities were retained on the list from Thursday, 16 May. Bandhan Bank was added to the list on Friday as the open interest of its F&O contracts reached 106.5%.

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 LIC Housing Finance,  declined below the 80% limit to 77.6%, respectively. Hence, it was removed from the list on Friday. 

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.