Open an NSE option chain for the first time as a stock investor moving into options, and it looks like a wall of numbers moving in every direction. Rows of strikes, two mirrored blocks of columns, prices ticking every few seconds — none of it means much until you know what to look at first. Learning how to read an option chain doesn't mean memorizing every column at once. It means knowing which four or five numbers matter for what you're doing, and reading them together instead of one at a time. This page walks through an NSE option chain column by column, with a live NIFTY example, so the next time you open one it reads like a table instead of noise.
Key takeaway
An NSE option chain lists every strike's calls (CE) and puts (PE) side by side with live price, open interest, and implied volatility for that expiry. Read it by comparing OI, change in OI, and price together, not by fixating on any single column in isolation.
How to Read an NSE Option Chain: The Basics
An option chain is a live table that lists every available strike price for an underlying — an index like NIFTY, or an individual stock — along with the price, open interest, and implied volatility of the call (CE) and put (PE) option at that strike. Every NSE-listed stock and index with F&O trading has one, and it refreshes continuously through the session.
Exchanges publish it so a trader can see, in one place, exactly what's being priced and traded at every strike for a given expiry, instead of pulling up each option's quote one at a time. Every chain is scoped to a single expiry. Switch the expiry dropdown on your broker's app or the NSE website, and the whole table reloads for that date.
Option Chain Layout: CE and PE Side by Side
Every option chain splits into two mirrored halves around a single column of strike prices: calls (CE) on one side, puts (PE) on the other. Read the left half top to bottom for calls, the right half for puts, and the strike price in the middle applies to both rows at once.
A call option (CE) gives the buyer the right to buy the underlying at that strike. A put option (PE) gives the buyer the right to sell it. CE stands for "Call European" and PE for "Put European." Both are a reminder that NSE-listed options are European style, exercised only on the expiry date itself and not any day before it, unlike some US-style options.
Every Column Explained: Strike, LTP, OI, IV, and More
Once you know which half is calls and which is puts, the real skill is knowing what each column actually tells you:
| Column | What It Shows | What to Check |
|---|---|---|
| Strike Price | The fixed price at which the option can be exercised | Compare it to the spot price to judge whether it's ITM, ATM, or OTM |
| LTP | The premium the option last actually traded at | Multiply by the lot size to get what one contract actually costs |
| OI | Total number of contracts still open at that strike | High OI means more traders have live positions sitting at that level |
| Chg in OI | Difference between today's OI and yesterday's closing OI | Tells you if today's activity is fresh positioning or people exiting |
| IV | The market's expected volatility for that strike, priced into the premium | Compare it across strikes and expiries; a raw number alone doesn't say whether it's high or low |
| Volume | Number of contracts traded today, whether or not still open | High volume with low OI usually means intraday churn, not sustained positioning |
| Bid/Ask | Best live buy and sell quotes waiting in the order book | A narrow spread means the strike is liquid; a wide one means you may not get filled near the LTP |
A Worked Example: Reading a Live NIFTY Option Chain Row by Row
NIFTY is at ₹24,832, and you're looking at the option chain for the nearest weekly expiry. NIFTY's lot size is 65 at the time of writing — confirm the live figure before you actually trade, since NSE revises these periodically.
| Strike | Type | LTP | OI (lakh contracts) | Chg in OI (lakh) | IV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24,700 | PE | ₹48 | 55.7 | −3.1 | 14.8% |
| 24,850 | CE | ₹138 | 38.5 | +4.2 | 13.9% |
| 24,850 | PE | ₹121 | 41.2 | +2.8 | 14.2% |
| 25,000 | CE | ₹52 | 61.4 | +6.5 | 13.1% |
- Find the ATM strike first. NIFTY strikes move in gaps of 50, so with spot at 24,832, the 24,850 strike is closest. That's your at-the-money reference point for everything else on the chain.
- Check the ATM premiums make sense. The 24,850 CE trades at ₹138 and the 24,850 PE at ₹121, reasonably close to each other, which is expected right at the money. A wide gap between the two would usually mean the market is pricing in an expected move before expiry.
- Look at where OI is piling up. The 25,000 CE is carrying 61.4 lakh contracts, well above either ATM strike. That's a level a lot of traders are watching, whether they're betting NIFTY stalls there or writing calls against it.
- Read Chg in OI, not just OI. The 24,700 PE lost 3.1 lakh in OI today while every other row added, meaning existing put positions are being closed there, not fresh ones opening. That changes what the OI number means today versus yesterday.
- Compare IV across strikes. The OTM 24,700 PE is pricing 14.8% IV against 13.1% on the OTM 25,000 CE. Puts carrying slightly higher IV than calls at a similar distance from spot is a normal, mild version of what's called volatility skew, not a red flag by itself.
How to Pick a Strike Using ITM, ATM, and OTM
Which strike to trade comes down to a tradeoff between cost, sensitivity, and probability, not a single "correct" answer. Moneyness — whether a strike is ITM, ATM, or OTM — is what makes that tradeoff visible on the chain.
- ITM strikes cost more upfront since they already carry intrinsic value, but they move closer to one-for-one with the underlying and decay less in percentage terms.
- ATM strikes carry the most time value of any strike and, on an index chain, usually the deepest OI and volume. Most participants trade here, which is also why bid-ask spreads tend to be tightest at ATM.
- OTM strikes are cheap and leveraged, but need a bigger move to pay off, and lose value fastest as expiry approaches.
Roughly, delta tells you the odds an option finishes ITM: an ATM option sits close to 50%, OTM lower, ITM higher. Before picking a strike, check three things on the chain itself: the premium against your own risk budget, the OI and volume at that strike (a strike with almost no OI can be hard to exit even at a fair-looking price), and how many days remain to expiry, since OTM premiums erode fastest in the final week.
What OI, Change in OI, and IV Are Really Telling You
OI, Chg in OI, and IV are the three columns worth tracking most closely once the basics are down, and each is deep enough to deserve its own explainer:
- OI and Chg in OI together show whether a strike's positioning is being built or unwound today. Rising OI with rising price (long buildup), rising OI with falling price (short buildup), and the reverse pairs, separate fresh conviction from people simply marking existing positions. The full walkthrough, with a worked example, is in Change in OI in Option Chain: What It Really Means.
- IV shows how expensive the option is relative to how much the underlying is expected to move, not which direction it's expected to move. A 15% IV can be high for one stock and low for another. Reading that properly needs IV Rank context, covered in What Does IV Mean in the Option Chain? Implied Volatility Explained.
- Put Call Ratio (PCR) rolls OI up across the entire chain into one number — total put OI divided by total call OI — as a quick read on how the crowd is positioned overall. See Put Call Ratio (PCR) Explained for how to calculate and read it.
- Wondering how the LTP itself arrives at that number? Intrinsic value plus time value plus IV is the short version — the full breakdown is in How Are Option Premiums Calculated?
Common Misunderstandings About Reading an Option Chain
High OI at a strike always means strong support or resistance.
High OI just means many contracts are open there — check Chg in OI and price together before reading it as a wall either side.
A high IV number means the option is overpriced.
IV only means something next to that stock's own usual range — 15% can be high for one stock and low for another.
The option chain shows you which way the market will move next.
It shows where positions and money are sitting right now, not a forecast — traders read it alongside price action, not instead of it.
ATM options are the safest choice because they're the most liquid.
Liquid just means easier to enter and exit — ATM options still carry full exposure to time decay and price swings.