Under the futures and options (F&O) segment, ten stocks were banned from trade on Monday, September 18, by the National Stock Exchange (NSE). The securities banned for the F&O trade are Balrampur Chini Mills, Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL), Chambal Fertilizers, Hindustan Copper, India Cements, Indiabulls Housing Finance, Indian Energy Exchange (IEX), Manappuram Finance, REC Ltd and Zee Entertainment Enterprises (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. 

On September 15, BHEL saw its open interest reach 94.2% of its MWPL. The open interest for the derivative contracts of Hindustan Copper stood at 80.1% of its MWPL at the closing time on Friday, while that of Balrampur Chini was 103.7%. IEX and REC saw the open interest for their F&O contracts touch 84.4% and 85.6%, respectively. 

The combined open interest for the derivatives contracts of Indiabulls Housing and India Cements stood at 89.6% and 80.9% of their MWPL on Friday. Manappuram and ZEEL were retained on the list as the open interest as a percentage of the MWPL of their F&O contracts stood at 84.2% and 92.3%, respectively, on September 15. 

All the above securities were retained on the list from Friday, September 15. Chambal Fertilizers was added to the list on Monday as the open interest of its F&O contracts touched 101.5%.

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 the F&O contracts of Delta Corp, National Aluminium Company and Steel Authority of India (SAIL) declined below the 80% limit to 79.7%, 79.2% and 79.6%, respectively. They, hence, were exited from the list on Monday. 

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.