Under the futures and options (F&O) segment, nine stocks were banned from trade on Wednesday, 13 March, by the National Stock Exchange (NSE). The securities banned for the F&O trade are Zee Entertainment Enterprise Ltd (ZEEL), Hindustan Copper, Piramal Enterprises, Steel Authority of India (SAIL), National Aluminium, Aditya Birla Fashion, Manappuram Finance Ltd, Tata Chemicals, and Mahanagar Gas 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.

Zee Entertainment and Manappuram Finance were retained on the list from Tuesday as the open interest as a percentage of the MWPL of their F&O contracts stood at 86.7% and 90%. Mahanagar Gas’s derivative contracts’ open interest is 83.4% of its MWPL on 13 March, compared to 102.7% for the Steel Authority of India and 90.2% for Tata Chemicals. Furthermore, Aditya Birla Fashion and Hindustan Copper were also retained on the list as their open interest is 92.9% and 90.1%, respectively.

The above securities were retained on the list from Tuesday, 12 March. National Aluminium Co and Piramal Enterprises were added to the list on Tuesday as the open interest of its F&O contracts reached 105.8% and 102%, respectively.

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 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.