Under the futures and options (F&O) segment, eleven stocks were banned from trade on Thursday, 18 April, by the National Stock Exchange (NSE). The securities banned for the F&O trade are Balrampur Chini Mills, Bandhan Bank, Exide Industries, Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilisers and Chemicals Limited, Hindustan Copper, Vodafone Idea, Metropolis Healthcare, National Aluminium Company, Piramal Enterprise, Steel Authority of India, and Zee Entertainment Enterprise Ltd.

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.

Balrampur Chini Mills, Hindustan Copper, and Gujarat Narmada Valley were retained on the list from Thursday as the open interest as a percentage of the MWPL of their F&O contracts stood at 83.9%, 84.7%, and 83.6%, respectively. Bandhan Bank derivative contracts’ open interest is 88.9% of its MWPL on 19 April, compared to 83.3% for National Aluminium and 90.5% for Zee Entertainment.

Furthermore, Metropolis Healthcare, and Piramal Enterprise were also retained on the list as their open interest is 92% and 89.3%, respectively. Vodafone Idea and Steel Authority of India were also retained on the F&O ban list, and the open interest of its MWPL contracts stood at 108.6% and 87.2%, respectively.

The above securities were retained on the list from Thursday, 18 April. Exide Industries was added to the list on Friday as the open interest of their F&O contracts reached 101.%.

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 Exide Industries and The India Cements Ltd declined below the 80% limit to 68.9% and 78.8%, respectively. Hence, it was exited from the list on Thursday.