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 Midcap Select 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 Midcap Select, expiry 23 November 2026

Index level: 13,988.75
Put-call ratio (open interest): 1.08
Max pain strike: 13,700
Most call open interest: 15,000 (8,914 contracts)
Most put open interest: 13,000 (9,019 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

9113,750224

8813,775100

1,76313,8002,345

24613,825120

12713,850304

8913,875197

93913,9001,302

13613,925167

17613,950455

29413,975210

8,54714,0005,056

23114,025113

16214,050105

8614,075114

90014,100450

10914,12543

13614,15042

13914,17515

2,98214,200262

7214,22525

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

−313,750−7

+213,775−41

013,800+91

+313,825−8

−3113,850−133

−413,875+31

+1013,900+20

−1613,925+23

−6513,950+245

+11213,975+77

+24914,000+548

+8114,025+23

−714,050−16

−914,075+29

−7814,100−119

+2914,125+14

+1814,150+7

+5114,175+3

+12214,200−49

+914,225+9

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

13,75014,225

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, 13,700. 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
90	0	485.25	13,625	92.95	+3	101
145	−1	429.10	13,650	101.95	−81	234
104	0	–	13,675	102.00	−10	76
614	−163	420.00	13,700	115.25	−60	1,074
80	−2	383.45	13,725	119.75	−11	51
91	−3	385.00	13,750	126.60	−7	224
88	+2	347.30	13,775	137.10	−41	100
1,763	0	343.85	13,800	147.45	+91	2,345
246	+3	352.05	13,825	156.90	−8	120
127	−31	333.00	13,850	166.00	−133	304
89	−4	313.55	13,875	173.40	+31	197
939	+10	285.95	13,900	185.65	+20	1,302
136	−16	271.80	13,925	195.60	+23	167
176	−65	259.60	13,950	206.95	+245	455
294	+112	244.60	13,975	215.20	+77	210
8,547	+249	230.65	14,000	230.70	+548	5,056
231	+81	218.35	14,025	242.30	+23	113
162	−7	207.30	14,050	256.15	−16	105
86	−9	194.75	14,075	266.55	+29	114
900	−78	183.65	14,100	282.00	−119	450
109	+29	173.10	14,125	295.25	+14	43
136	+18	162.75	14,150	307.75	+7	42
139	+51	155.00	14,175	322.00	+3	15
2,982	+122	142.65	14,200	340.80	−49	262
72	+9	133.80	14,225	352.80	+9	25
113	+5	126.70	14,250	370.30	+2	13
46	−3	123.50	14,275	401.80	0	15
1,689	−169	109.85	14,300	395.50	+3	25
44	0	83.35	14,325	408.80	0	4
79	+18	97.40	14,350	450.10	0	8

Source: NSE, 09-Nov-2026 12:04:28, 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.