Under the futures and options (F&O) segment, twelve stocks were banned from trade on Thursday, 16 May, by the National Stock Exchange (NSE). The securities banned for the F&O trade are Balrampur Chini Mills, Biocon, Birlasoft Limited, GMR Airports, Granules India, Hindustan Copper, Vodafone Idea, The India Cement, LIC Housing Finance, Piramal Enterprises, Steel Authority of India, and Zee Entertainment Enterprise. 

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. 

Vodafone Idea and Birlasoft were retained on the list from Wednesday as the open interest as a percentage of the MWPL of its F&O contracts stood at 86.7% and 92.6%, respectively. Balrampur Chini Mills derivative contracts’ open interest is 88.1% of its MWPL on 16 May, compared to 85.5% for GMR Airports, and 83.7% for Steel Authority of India. 

Piramal Enterprise, Hindustan Copper, and Zee Entertainment were also retained on the F&O ban list, and the open interest of its MWPL contracts stood at 95.1%, 84.3%, and 93.8%, respectively.

The above securities were retained on the list from Wednesday, 16 May. Biocon, Granules India, The India Cement, and LIC Housing Finance were added to the list on Thursday as the open interest of its F&O contracts reached 99.5%, 104.6%, 97%, and 96.8%, 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 open interest for F&O contracts of Canara Bank declined below the 80% limit to 75%, respectively. Hence, it was removed from the list on Thursday. 

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.