What does a high or low put-call ratio mean?

It only says whether more puts or more calls are open. Puts and calls are bought and sold for many reasons, including hedging, so the ratio on its own is not a signal.

Does the price settle at max pain?

There is no rule that it does. Max pain is simply the strike where option buyers as a group would receive the least, worked out from today’s open interest.

NSE’s option chain is shown a few minutes late, and the time of NSE’s snapshot is printed in the source line.

Option chain

Open interest at each strike for Nifty 50 index options on NSE, with the put-call ratio and max pain worked out from the whole chain. These are measures of open positions, not forecasts.

Stock

Nifty 50, expiry 23 November 2026

Index level: 24,928.80
Put-call ratio (open interest): 1.23
Max pain strike: 24,000
Most call open interest: 25,000 (79,861 contracts)
Most put open interest: 23,000 (1.17 L contracts)

How to read this

Put-call ratio (PCR) is total put open interest divided by total call open interest for this expiry. Max pain is the strike at which all option contracts together would be worth the least on expiry.

Open interest is the number of contracts still open, not the number traded today. Both figures describe existing positions; they are not forecasts.

What does a high or low put-call ratio mean?: It only says whether more puts or more calls are open. Puts and calls are bought and sold for many reasons, including hedging, so the ratio on its own is not a signal.
Does the price settle at max pain?: There is no rule that it does. Max pain is simply the strike where option buyers as a group would receive the least, worked out from today’s open interest.
How delayed is this?: NSE’s option chain is shown a few minutes late, and the time of NSE’s snapshot is printed in the source line.

Open interest by strike

CallsStrikePuts

1,03124,4503,020

39,77424,50078,676

1,17024,5505,235

11,73324,60011,136

1,20024,6502,042

8,96124,70013,063

1,68024,7501,391

10,14724,80015,272

1,90924,8502,331

11,74224,90012,133

2,63824,9501,823

79,86125,00061,086

2,36225,050869

17,37525,1006,165

3,20425,150457

19,32325,2003,502

1,85325,250180

10,21925,300947

1,22625,350147

8,93725,400484

How to read this

Each row is a strike price. Bars to the left are call open interest; bars to the right are put open interest. Longer bars mean more open contracts.

In the change chart, a rise means new positions were opened today and a fall means positions were closed. It does not say whether buyers or sellers started them.

Change in open interest today

CallsStrikePuts

−7124,450+499

−3,79324,500−612

−18524,550+37

−2,02824,600−1,266

−2424,650+161

−2,68224,700+861

−66724,750−26

−1,94924,800+574

−13224,850+545

+2,54924,900+2,971

+77924,950+425

−66925,000+6,655

−20025,050+12

+3,70925,100+2,203

+41125,150+96

+3,24325,200+537

+28725,250+36

−43825,300+190

−34825,350+68

−3,08925,400+141

Faded bars are falls in open interest (positions closed); solid bars are rises (new positions).

Max pain: what option writers would pay at each expiry level

24,45025,400

Each bar is the total value of in-the-money calls and puts across the whole chain if the index settled at that strike on expiry. The yellow bar, the lowest, is the max pain strike, 24,000. Not a forecast of where the index will settle.

Chain near the index level

Call OI	Call OI change	Call price	Strike	Put price	Put OI change	Put OI
24,232	−177	825.65	24,200	86.85	−1,114	15,646
914	−17	756.40	24,250	97.05	+75	1,678
10,852	−418	742.20	24,300	104.30	−339	19,518
888	−56	671.25	24,350	112.50	+24	1,832
11,431	−826	666.40	24,400	125.20	−208	18,929
1,031	−71	620.00	24,450	133.60	+499	3,020
39,774	−3,793	588.50	24,500	148.65	−612	78,676
1,170	−185	525.70	24,550	166.00	+37	5,235
11,733	−2,028	518.00	24,600	177.75	−1,266	11,136
1,200	−24	478.70	24,650	194.45	+161	2,042
8,961	−2,682	455.00	24,700	212.00	+861	13,063
1,680	−667	421.20	24,750	228.60	−26	1,391
10,147	−1,949	391.95	24,800	250.20	+574	15,272
1,909	−132	363.95	24,850	272.25	+545	2,331
11,742	+2,549	336.15	24,900	294.60	+2,971	12,133
2,638	+779	312.05	24,950	318.90	+425	1,823
79,861	−669	286.35	25,000	343.00	+6,655	61,086
2,362	−200	265.00	25,050	373.90	+12	869
17,375	+3,709	244.55	25,100	397.40	+2,203	6,165
3,204	+411	224.85	25,150	434.25	+96	457
19,323	+3,243	205.15	25,200	459.90	+537	3,502
1,853	+287	187.50	25,250	496.40	+36	180
10,219	−438	169.55	25,300	519.45	+190	947
1,226	−348	155.50	25,350	546.60	+68	147
8,937	−3,089	141.60	25,400	596.05	+141	484
1,930	−26	127.55	25,450	560.00	+88	140
74,439	−3,860	115.20	25,500	668.40	−365	18,744
1,517	+78	104.90	25,550	775.00	+59	72
11,156	−812	95.35	25,600	770.10	+143	396
1,125	+345	86.15	25,650	779.55	+1	5

Source: NSE, 09-Nov-2026 12:05:38, delayed. Open interest is in contracts. The strike in bold is the one nearest the index level. Prices are the last traded premium.

F&O ban list for 9 November 2026

What the ban means

1 stock is in the ban period: new positions in its futures and options are not allowed, only reducing existing ones.

Kaynes Technology India

Source: NSE, published each evening for the next trading day.

Most active option contracts today

Contract	Price	Change	Contracts traded	Open interest
NIFTY 24,900 PutIndex option · expires 9 Nov	35.65	−62.4%	1.09 Cr	3.55 L
NIFTY 25,000 CallIndex option · expires 9 Nov	63.80	−57.5%	1.08 Cr	4.39 L
NIFTY 24,800 PutIndex option · expires 9 Nov	14.85	−76.1%	79.54 L	2.91 L
NIFTY 24,900 CallIndex option · expires 9 Nov	120.75	−40.5%	72.67 L	1.18 L
NIFTY 25,100 CallIndex option · expires 9 Nov	31.50	−71.8%	68.96 L	3.60 L
NIFTY 24,950 CallIndex option · expires 9 Nov	88.85	−47.6%	68.36 L	1.54 L
NIFTY 24,850 PutIndex option · expires 9 Nov	22.70	−70.7%	65.63 L	2.06 L
NIFTY 25,000 PutIndex option · expires 9 Nov	78.45	−43.5%	63.52 L	2.53 L
NIFTY 24,950 PutIndex option · expires 9 Nov	53.20	−54.0%	63.44 L	2.55 L
NIFTY 25,200 CallIndex option · expires 9 Nov	14.65	−80.5%	55.13 L	3.05 L
NIFTY 25,050 CallIndex option · expires 9 Nov	45.15	−66.0%	53.03 L	2.23 L
NIFTY 24,700 PutIndex option · expires 9 Nov	6.30	−84.3%	45.18 L	1.88 L
NIFTY 24,750 PutIndex option · expires 9 Nov	9.45	−80.9%	42.28 L	1.42 L
NIFTY 25,300 CallIndex option · expires 9 Nov	6.25	−87.4%	41.12 L	2.39 L
NIFTY 25,500 CallIndex option · expires 9 Nov	1.75	−90.7%	40.81 L	3.03 L
NIFTY 25,150 CallIndex option · expires 9 Nov	21.30	−76.9%	38.24 L	1.92 L
NIFTY 25,400 CallIndex option · expires 9 Nov	2.90	−90.3%	36.83 L	2.15 L
NIFTY 24,500 PutIndex option · expires 9 Nov	1.95	−88.9%	33.89 L	2.67 L
NIFTY 24,600 PutIndex option · expires 9 Nov	3.10	−88.0%	33.19 L	1.81 L
NIFTY 25,250 CallIndex option · expires 9 Nov	9.30	−84.8%	31.93 L	1.85 L

Source: NSE, by number of contracts traded today, delayed. A busy contract is not a signal to trade it.

Information only, not advice to trade. Futures and options are high-risk: SEBI’s study of FY2022 to FY2024 found that about 9 in 10 individual traders in equity F&O made a net loss.