Under the futures and options (F&O) segment, nine stocks were banned from trade on Wednesday, 15 May, by the National Stock Exchange (NSE). The securities banned for the F&O trade are Balrampur Chini Mills, Birlasoft Limited, Canara Bank, GMR Airports, Hindustan Copper, Vodafone Idea, 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 Canara Bank were retained on the list from Tuesday as the open interest as a percentage of the MWPL of its F&O contracts stood at 87.1% and 82%, respectively. Balrampur Chini Mills derivative contracts’ open interest is 88.8% of its MWPL on 15 May, compared to 86% for GMR Airports, and 84.7% 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 97.7%, 87.1%, and 94.1%, respectively.

The above securities were retained on the list from Tuesday, 14 May. Birlasoft Ltd was added to the list on Wednesday as the open interest of its F&O contracts reached 107.4%.

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 Punjab National Bank declined below the 80% limit to 79.8%, respectively. Hence, it was removed 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.