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 1 December 2026

Index level: 24,928.80
Put-call ratio (open interest): 0.87
Max pain strike: 24,500
Most call open interest: 25,000 (12,079 contracts)
Most put open interest: 23,500 (5,295 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

14524,450200

3,47324,5003,397

17924,550208

56724,6001,746

26524,650212

49124,700557

21024,750430

50824,800556

29924,850202

73824,900705

35924,950382

12,07925,0001,906

50425,050148

76825,100291

42625,150101

80425,200222

42025,25076

65325,300109

21625,35048

42925,40031

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

024,450−43

+25224,500+218

+124,550−70

−3524,600−165

−4424,650−87

−5024,700+42

−2824,750+102

+8624,800+46

−1424,850−6

+16324,900+50

+3524,950+205

+14925,000+813

+6725,050−14

+2625,100+85

+725,150+1

+8925,200+89

+4425,250+14

+11325,300+45

+12225,350+28

+22025,400+4

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, 24,500. 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
444	0	915.25	24,200	133.55	−37	734
33	−38	835.70	24,250	143.80	−78	113
786	−65	811.15	24,300	154.50	−49	1,057
96	−25	815.70	24,350	165.05	−41	162
1,011	+7	739.55	24,400	173.95	+57	1,553
145	0	734.15	24,450	186.30	−43	200
3,473	+252	659.80	24,500	198.05	+218	3,397
179	+1	660.40	24,550	212.25	−70	208
567	−35	571.15	24,600	233.70	−165	1,746
265	−44	582.40	24,650	252.35	−87	212
491	−50	518.10	24,700	268.20	+42	557
210	−28	536.80	24,750	293.10	+102	430
508	+86	455.15	24,800	302.35	+46	556
299	−14	431.95	24,850	332.95	−6	202
738	+163	412.65	24,900	340.00	+50	705
359	+35	380.40	24,950	371.95	+205	382
12,079	+149	358.40	25,000	389.35	+813	1,906
504	+67	338.05	25,050	425.35	−14	148
768	+26	294.95	25,100	450.00	+85	291
426	+7	274.95	25,150	443.75	+1	101
804	+89	261.00	25,200	493.30	+89	222
420	+44	235.55	25,250	495.90	+14	76
653	+113	225.50	25,300	549.65	+45	109
216	+122	227.85	25,350	570.15	+28	48
429	+220	200.20	25,400	639.95	+4	31
209	+102	191.75	25,450	680.25	−1	20
2,102	−53	167.60	25,500	699.50	+30	70
67	+4	161.25	25,550	707.60	+23	25
476	+118	135.00	25,600	747.75	+20	21
80	−3	145.80	25,650	825.80	−8	6

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.