Indian Indices · OI history

OI vs past expiries

Total open interest (calls + puts) by moneyness — strike ÷ spot-at-the-time, not raw strike — from each expiry's last captured snapshot before it settled. Moneyness alignment lets cycles be compared directly even though spot itself moved between them: 1.00 is always "ATM at that expiry", 0.95 is always "5% OTM put side", regardless of the index's absolute level that week. Only expiries already archived in the chain history are shown — earlier than the archive's own start date, there's nothing to compare against.
Total OI by moneyness, last — expiries
No completed expiry cycles archived yet for this index.

Why comparing OI across expiries matters

A single expiry's open-interest distribution only tells you where writers are positioned right now. Overlaying several completed cycles, aligned by moneyness (strike ÷ spot) rather than raw strike price, shows whether the current cycle's positioning is typical or an outlier — since spot itself moves between cycles, comparing raw strikes wouldn't be meaningful.

Reading this chart

A consistent peak right at 1.00 across every cycle means OI reliably concentrates at the money regardless of market regime — the normal pattern. A cycle whose peak sits noticeably off-center (e.g. clustered at 0.97 or 1.05) suggests writers were positioned for a specific move that week rather than a neutral range. Comparing the peak's height (not just position) across cycles also shows whether recent weeks have carried more or less total open interest than usual — a rough proxy for how much hedging/positioning activity the index is currently attracting.

  • Peak at 1.00, consistent across cycles — normal, OI concentrating at-the-money as expected.
  • Peak shifted off-center in one cycle — writers positioned for a directional move that particular week.
  • Taller peaks recently vs older cycles — more total open interest / hedging activity than the index's own recent baseline.

Methodology & data

Each cycle's strikes are bucketed by moneyness (strike ÷ that cycle's own spot) so cycles remain directly comparable even though spot differs cycle to cycle. Only completed expiry cycles with archived data are shown.

Why compare by moneyness instead of raw strike price?

Spot moves between expiry cycles, so a raw strike like 24000 means something different in one cycle versus another. Moneyness (strike divided by that cycle's own spot) normalizes for that, making cycles directly comparable.

What does an off-center OI peak mean?

It suggests option writers were positioned for a specific directional move that cycle, rather than the more typical at-the-money concentration seen in a neutral range-bound market.

How many expiry cycles are shown?

Every completed cycle with archived data for the selected index — coverage grows as more cycles complete and get recorded.

Which indices are covered?

NIFTY, BANKNIFTY, SENSEX, FINNIFTY, MIDCPNIFTY and BANKEX — switch between them using the selector above.