Under the futures and options (F&O) segment, eight stocks were banned from trade on Friday, December 22, by the National Stock Exchange (NSE). The securities banned for the F&O trade are Ashok Leyland, Balrampur Chini Mills, Delta Corp, India Cements, Hindustan Copper, Manappuram Finance, RBL Bank and Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL).

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. 

Manappuram Finance and Balrampur Chini were retained on the list as the open interest as a percentage of the MWPL of their F&O contracts stood at 80.7% and 95.6%, respectively, on December 21. The combined open interest for the derivatives contracts of RBL Bank stood at 81.9% of its respective MWPL on Thursday. 

The open interest for the derivative contracts of Ashok Leyland stood at 88.1% of its MWPL at Thursday’s closing time, while that of India Cements was 92.4%. SAIL and Delta Corp saw the open interest for their F&O contracts touch 82.8% and 103% of their respective MWPLs, respectively. 

All the above securities were retained on the list from Thursday, December 21. Hindustan Copper was added to the list on Friday as the open interest of its F&O contracts reached 123.5%.

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 Indus Towers, National Aluminium and Piramal Enterprises declined below the 80% limit to 77%, 78.2% and 79.1%, respectively. Hence, they were exited 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.