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 Bank 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 Bank, expiry 23 November 2026

Index level: 59,267.70
Put-call ratio (open interest): 1.21
Max pain strike: 57,500
Most call open interest: 58,000 (53,638 contracts)
Most put open interest: 58,000 (60,781 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

2,54458,3002,671

1,40758,4001,311

11,48458,50012,456

1,46558,6002,104

6,28758,7006,412

2,31158,8002,687

2,14858,9002,513

26,33259,00022,159

3,88959,1004,007

4,66159,2004,050

3,53859,3002,037

3,57759,4002,151

14,60759,5003,914

2,30059,600391

2,63659,700214

2,70959,800146

1,37859,90066

26,84660,0008,241

3,18460,10015

2,17660,2007

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

−42558,300+197

−44458,400−10

−86058,500+1,518

−80558,600−248

−55858,700+350

−59958,800+729

−85358,900+554

+1,68759,000+7,269

+1,78259,100+3,343

+1,37159,200+3,494

+1,65459,300+1,688

+1,71859,400−149

+3,29559,500+2,600

+1,29159,600+329

+54859,700−189

+81159,800+125

+6559,900+53

+1,95660,000+1,023

−1960,100+13

+26560,200+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

58,30060,200

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, 57,500. 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
2,868	−317	1,742.10	57,800	309.55	+79	4,543
2,224	−272	1,636.45	57,900	331.40	+79	3,152
53,638	−14,067	1,588.50	58,000	351.25	−1,681	60,781
1,674	−153	1,560.00	58,100	378.35	+379	2,416
1,980	−435	1,447.00	58,200	408.35	−40	2,215
2,544	−425	1,348.85	58,300	435.60	+197	2,671
1,407	−444	1,279.90	58,400	467.45	−10	1,311
11,484	−860	1,230.00	58,500	491.90	+1,518	12,456
1,465	−805	1,154.30	58,600	522.15	−248	2,104
6,287	−558	1,099.80	58,700	559.60	+350	6,412
2,311	−599	1,035.70	58,800	598.45	+729	2,687
2,148	−853	979.45	58,900	640.70	+554	2,513
26,332	+1,687	921.45	59,000	678.15	+7,269	22,159
3,889	+1,782	865.00	59,100	724.20	+3,343	4,007
4,661	+1,371	815.00	59,200	770.40	+3,494	4,050
3,538	+1,654	765.20	59,300	817.55	+1,688	2,037
3,577	+1,718	713.30	59,400	868.95	−149	2,151
14,607	+3,295	666.00	59,500	928.50	+2,600	3,914
2,300	+1,291	619.35	59,600	984.20	+329	391
2,636	+548	580.10	59,700	1,046.85	−189	214
2,709	+811	533.60	59,800	1,105.15	+125	146
1,378	+65	500.45	59,900	1,175.60	+53	66
26,846	+1,956	465.80	60,000	1,220.60	+1,023	8,241
3,184	−19	427.00	60,100	1,339.85	+13	15
2,176	+265	397.00	60,200	1,248.80	+4	7
1,621	+664	367.65	60,300	1,339.05	+2	2
954	+140	339.85	60,400	1,470.00	+2	6
20,586	+14,083	315.60	60,500	1,569.75	+3,570	3,942
1,261	+612	294.50	60,600	–	0	0
1,215	+348	269.50	60,700	1,530.00	0	0

Source: NSE, 09-Nov-2026 12:05:28, 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.