The National Stock Exchange (NSE) announced on Tuesday that it will be changing the expiry of all contracts in its equity derivatives segment to Monday from Thursday starting April 4. According to a circular released by the premier F&O bourse, Nifty weekly contracts, Nifty monthly, quarterly and half-yearly contracts, Bank Nifty monthly and quarterly contracts, as well as Fin Nifty, MidCap Nifty, and Nifty Next 50 monthly contracts will now expire on Monday. Additionally, all single stock futures will also have their expiry on Monday.
The revised expiry date of all existing derivatives contracts will be available in the contract file generated on April 3 to avoid operational complexities, NSE stated. The settlement schedule will be intimated separately by Clearing Corporations.
There have been no other changes in the contract specifications of index and stock derivatives, the circular confirmed. This decision comes after NSE had previously revised the expiry dates to Thursday for index derivative contracts, effective January 1, 2025, following a similar change made by the BSE to its derivative contracts’ expiry dates to Tuesday.
According to the latest market pulse from NSE, the exchange commands 99.9% market share in equity futures and 85.1% in equity options. The move comes after the SEBI proposed changes to the computation of open interest in equity derivatives, aiming to curb volatility in the derivatives segment.
SEBI’s measures were introduced to address the exuberance in derivatives trading that led to heavy losses for individual investors. Trading activity across the industry has been subdued in both cash and options volumes due to these measures and the ongoing correction in the market.
Overall, the changes in the expiry dates of derivatives contracts aim to streamline the trading process and reduce complexities for market participants.
