About the NSE Option Chain
Free real-time and historical option chain with OI, volume, Greeks, and IV for Nifty 50, BankNifty, Sensex, and 200+ F&O stocks. Updates every second in live mode. Switch to Historical Mode to replay past option chain data for any trading date and back-test your strategies on actual minute-level state.
Open Interest in the chain
Open Interest is the total count of outstanding option contracts that haven't been closed, exercised, or expired. In the NSE chain, every strike has separate OI figures for calls and puts. When a new buyer and a new seller enter a contract, OI rises by one lot. When an existing buyer sells to an existing seller, OI drops by one lot. The distinction matters: rising OI is fresh money entering, falling OI is positions getting squared off.
Nifty 50 strikes are spaced 50 points apart (22,000, 22,050, 22,100). BankNifty uses 100-point intervals. Weekly expiries are every Thursday, monthlies on the last Thursday of the calendar month. Heavy Call OI at 22,500 implies option sellers believe Nifty is unlikely to cross that level before expiry, making it resistance. Heavy Put OI at 22,000 implies sellers expect support there.
Reading the Greeks
Greeks quantify how option price reacts to various factors. The chain displays four for every strike. Delta measures how much premium changes for a one-point underlying move. An ATM Nifty call typically has Delta around 0.50, so premium rises by ~0.50 rupees per one-point Nifty rise. Deep ITM calls approach 1.0, far OTM calls approach 0. Gamma measures rate of change of Delta. High Gamma near ATM means Delta shifts rapidly, which raises risk for option sellers.
Theta is time decay. An ATM Nifty weekly option with three days to expiry might have Theta of -8 to -12, meaning premium loses 8-12 rupees per day from time alone. Vega measures sensitivity to IV: a one-point rise in IV might add 5-15 rupees to an ATM premium depending on time to expiry. Watching Greeks alongside OI tells you not just where positions are concentrated but how they'll react to different scenarios.
Why Historical Mode matters
Load the chain as it appeared on any past trading date. Invaluable for back-testing. Examine the chain on a budget day or RBI policy morning and watch how OI, IV, and premiums evolved through the session. If you're developing a short straddle strategy, check how ATM premiums behaved on past weekly expiry days to estimate realistic targets and drawdowns. Historical data also validates your read of OI-based support and resistance. If Put OI was concentrated at 22,000 on Tuesday, fast-forward to Thursday's expiry and see whether 22,000 actually held.
Using the chain for Nifty and BankNifty trading
Professional traders start the day by scanning the chain for the highest OI strikes on both sides. These define the expected range. If the top Call OI is at 22,500 and top Put OI is at 22,000, the implied range is 22,000-22,500. A breakout above 22,500 with rising Call OI unwinding signals a bullish shift. A breakdown below 22,000 with Put OI declining signals bearish momentum. Same logic applies on BankNifty, just with wider expected moves due to higher volatility. Volume data complements OI: high OI with low volume is holding steady; high volume with OI increase signals fresh aggressive positioning.
Pair the option chain with our Open Interest Analysis, Max Pain Calculator, and Multi-Strike OI for fuller research.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is an option chain and how do you read it?
An option chain is a tabular listing of every available call and put for a given underlying, organized by strike price and expiry. Each row shows the strike; calls are typically displayed on the left, puts on the right. Key columns include last traded price (LTP), bid/ask, volume, open interest, change in OI, and the option Greeks. Reading it well is the foundation of every options strategy.
What columns matter most in the StockMojo option chain?
The most actionable columns are Open Interest (where positions are concentrated), Change in OI (where new positions are being built or unwound), Implied Volatility (how expensive each strike is), and Delta (directional exposure). Volume helps confirm whether OI changes are real activity or stale positions. The StockMojo chain highlights ITM strikes and ATM strikes for quick visual scanning.
How are Greeks (Delta, Gamma, Theta, Vega) calculated in real time?
Greeks are computed from the Black-Scholes model using the live underlying price, the option's strike, time to expiry, current implied volatility, and the prevailing risk-free rate. StockMojo recalculates them every tick from the live NSE feed so the displayed values match real-time market conditions, not delayed snapshots.
What does open interest in the option chain tell traders?
OI shows where market participants have committed capital. A strike with very high call OI typically acts as resistance — it represents the largest concentration of call writers defending that level. The same logic applies to puts as support. Combined with change in OI, this is the single most-used signal in Indian options trading.
How is implied volatility shown in the option chain?
IV is displayed per strike, per option type. A symmetric IV across calls and puts at the same strike indicates a neutral market; a skew (puts more expensive than calls) indicates downside hedging demand. Watching IV across strikes reveals the volatility smile — a fundamental input for premium-selling strategies.
What's the difference between live and historical option chain views?
The live view shows real-time NSE data refreshed every few seconds during market hours. The historical view (Timeseries Option Chain) lets traders replay past option chain snapshots — useful for studying how OI shifted around past events, expiries, or news. Both views share the same column layout.
How often does the option chain update?
During market hours (09:15-15:30 IST), the StockMojo option chain updates on every NSE tick, typically every 1-3 seconds depending on activity. Greeks and IV are recalculated on each refresh. Outside market hours the chain shows the closing snapshot.
What expiries are available for Nifty, BankNifty, and stocks?
Nifty has weekly expiries every Thursday plus a monthly expiry on the last Thursday. BankNifty currently has a monthly expiry on the last Wednesday after the discontinuation of weekly contracts. F&O stocks have monthly expiries on the last Thursday. All available expiries appear in the StockMojo expiry selector for the chosen symbol.
How to use the StockMojo Option Chain
- Pick a symbol — Type or select Nifty, BankNifty, FinNifty, or any F&O stock in the symbol search at the top.
- Choose your expiry — Use the expiry dropdown to switch between weekly and monthly contracts. The current week is selected by default.
- Identify the ATM strike — Find the highlighted at-the-money strike — this is your reference point for reading OI and IV across the chain.
- Scan OI and Change in OI — Look for strikes with the highest call OI (resistance) and put OI (support). Check Change in OI to see where new positions are being built right now.
- Cross-reference with Max Pain and PCR tools — Open Max Pain and Put Call Ratio in adjacent tabs to confirm whether the OI picture aligns with broader sentiment.