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 Financial Services 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 Financial Services, expiry 29 December 2026

Index level: 27,384.90
Max pain strike: 23,000
Most put open interest: 23,000 (7 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

022,5000

023,0007

030,0000

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

022,5000

023,0000

030,0000

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

Chain near the index level

Call price	Strike	Put price	Put OI
–	22,500	–	0
–	23,000	–	7
–	30,000	–	0

Source: NSE, 09-Nov-2026 15:40:00, 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 25,000 CallIndex option · expires 9 Nov	44.50	−70.3%	3.06 Cr	1.74 L
NIFTY 24,900 PutIndex option · expires 9 Nov	0.05	−99.9%	2.90 Cr	2.35 L
NIFTY 25,100 CallIndex option · expires 9 Nov	0.05	−100.0%	2.24 Cr	2.47 L
NIFTY 25,000 PutIndex option · expires 9 Nov	0.05	−100.0%	2.07 Cr	3.02 L
NIFTY 25,050 CallIndex option · expires 9 Nov	0.05	−100.0%	2.05 Cr	2.53 L
NIFTY 24,950 PutIndex option · expires 9 Nov	0.05	−100.0%	1.98 Cr	2.28 L
NIFTY 24,800 PutIndex option · expires 9 Nov	0.05	−99.9%	1.89 Cr	1.27 L
NIFTY 24,850 PutIndex option · expires 9 Nov	0.05	−99.9%	1.80 Cr	1.08 L
NIFTY 24,950 CallIndex option · expires 9 Nov	94.40	−44.3%	1.77 Cr	66,860
NIFTY 24,900 CallIndex option · expires 9 Nov	144.30	−28.9%	1.70 Cr	64,804
NIFTY 25,200 CallIndex option · expires 9 Nov	0.05	−99.9%	1.58 Cr	1.46 L
NIFTY 25,150 CallIndex option · expires 9 Nov	0.05	−99.9%	1.30 Cr	1.15 L
NIFTY 24,700 PutIndex option · expires 9 Nov	0.05	−99.9%	1.09 Cr	1.08 L
NIFTY 24,750 PutIndex option · expires 9 Nov	0.05	−99.9%	1.07 Cr	84,697
NIFTY 25,300 CallIndex option · expires 9 Nov	0.05	−99.9%	1.02 Cr	1.49 L
NIFTY 25,250 CallIndex option · expires 9 Nov	0.10	−99.8%	87.23 L	1.26 L
NIFTY 24,600 PutIndex option · expires 9 Nov	0.05	−99.8%	70.83 L	1.04 L
NIFTY 25,400 CallIndex option · expires 9 Nov	0.05	−99.8%	70.50 L	1.20 L
NIFTY 25,050 PutIndex option · expires 9 Nov	5.35	−96.7%	69.65 L	1.23 L
NIFTY 24,650 PutIndex option · expires 9 Nov	0.05	−99.8%	65.07 L	59,690

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.