Under the futures and options (F&O) segment, eleven stocks were banned from trade on Tuesday, February 20, by the National Stock Exchange (NSE). The securities banned for the F&O trade are Aditya Birla Fashion, Ashok Leyland, Bandhan Bank, Biocon Ltd, Canara Bank, Hindustan Copper, India Cements, Indus Towers, National Aluminium Co, 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. 

Ashok Leyland and Aditya Birla Fashion were retained on the list from Monday as the open interest as a percentage of the MWPL of their F&O contracts stood at 80.4% and 80.7%, respectively. Indus Towers and India Cements saw the open interest for their F&O contracts touch 96.9% and 83.8% of their respective MWPLs, respectively. 

Hindustan Copper’s derivative contracts’ open interest was 89.3% of its MWPL on February 19, compared to 94.8% for National Aluminium. The open interest for SAIL’s derivative contracts stood at 80.4% of its MWPL at Monday’s closing time, while that of ZEEL was 92.2%. 

At Monday’s closing time, the open interest for Canara Bank and Bandhan Bank’s derivatives contracts was 88.9% and 88.4% of their respective MWPLs, respectively. All the above securities were retained on the list from Monday, February 19. Biocon Ltd was added to the list on Tuesday as the open interest of their F&O contracts reached 101.3%.  

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 Balrampur Chini Mills and Delta Corp declined below the 80% limit to 79.8% and 79.6%, respectively. Hence, they were exited from the list on Tuesday. 

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.