Futures and options activity combined amounted to well over INR 1,089,926.2 crores this week (17 to 21 August), split between INR 916,743.3 crores in futures turnover across 640 live contracts (208 stocks and 6 indices) and INR 173,182.9 crores in options premium turnover. NIFTY's nearest month futures contract closed the week down 0.67%, while BANKNIFTY's nearest month contract ended nearly flat, up 0.05%. Insights based on data on bhavcopydata.com below.
Futures, stock positioning stays tilted bearish through the rollover
This week fell right before the monthly expiry on 25 August, a Tuesday. Positions in the near month contract move to the next month heading into expiry, which shows up as a large swing in a single contract's open interest that has nothing to do with fresh buying or selling. To read positioning correctly, the open interest change below is measured across each stock's full open interest, near month and next month combined, rather than any one contract alone.
Among 208 stock futures that traded at least INR 1 crore for the week, positioning still leaned bearish. 81 in Short Buildup, 51 in Long Buildup, 41 in Long Unwinding, and 35 in Short Covering. The two bearish categories together outnumbered the two bullish categories, 122 to 86.
The largest Short Buildup names, price down alongside rising open interest, were Vodafone Idea Ltd (IDEA), down 1.20% for the week on INR 10,170.9 crores of turnover with open interest up 1.56%, and Jio Financial Services Ltd (JIOFIN), down 2.09% on INR 6,475.6 crores, open interest up 7.20%. Tata Steel Ltd (TATASTEEL) also stood out, down a modest 0.26% with open interest up a heavier 9.17% on INR 4,778.5 crores of turnover.
On the Long Buildup side, Reliance Industries Ltd (RELIANCE) carried the most turnover, up 0.05% on INR 20,566.9 crores as open interest rose 5.53%. L&T Finance Ltd (LTF), up 2.91% with open interest up a heavier 12.32% on INR 3,982.0 crores, and NMDC Ltd (NMDC), up 0.58% with open interest up 9.48% on INR 3,676.1 crores, both showed more conviction behind smaller price moves.
The week's largest Short Covering names were Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL), up 0.54% on INR 5,932.8 crores as open interest fell 4.32%, and Swiggy Ltd (SWIGGY), up 2.11% on INR 5,877.9 crores as open interest fell 6.93%. Bandhan Bank Ltd (BANDHANBNK), up 0.55% as open interest fell a sharper 11.02% on INR 1,327.8 crores, showed the clearest sign of existing shorts closing rather than fresh buying.
Wipro Ltd (WIPRO) was the largest Long Unwinding name, down 2.36% on INR 6,832.2 crores of turnover as open interest fell 5.08%. Suzlon Energy Ltd (SUZLON), down 1.39% as open interest fell 0.97% on INR 4,011.3 crores, and Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Ltd (IREDA), down 0.64% as open interest fell 9.84% on INR 2,321.6 crores, both point to existing longs being closed against falling prices.
At the index level, NIFTY's combined open interest across both live expiries rose 11.56% while its nearest month price fell 0.67%, a Short Buildup reading. BANKNIFTY's combined open interest rose a smaller 2.26% against a nearly flat 0.05% price move, landing in Long Buildup. NIFTY remained the single most traded name of the week at INR 50,104.3 crores of combined turnover, ahead of HDFC Bank Ltd (HDFCBANK) at INR 34,151.8 crores and BANKNIFTY at INR 22,831.9 crores.
Turnover climbed sharply into the back half of the week as the 25 August expiry approached. Daily futures turnover ran close to INR 67,556 crores on Monday and INR 83,453 crores on Tuesday, rose to INR 116,788 crores on Wednesday, then more than doubled again to INR 323,796 crores on Thursday and INR 325,150 crores on Friday. The jump was spread broadly across NIFTY, HDFCBANK, RELIANCE and the other most active names rather than concentrated in any single contract.
Options, NIFTY's PCR climbs back above one while BSE tells a different story to its own futures
NIFTY's nearest expiry options PCR by open interest rose from 0.88 on 14 August to 1.08 by 21 August, dipping as low as 0.63 on 18 August as that week's expiry rolled off, before climbing steadily through the fresh 25 August expiry. That is a real shift toward puts over the week, consistent with the index's mild pullback. BANKNIFTY's nearest expiry PCR moved the same way, though more gently, from 0.78 on 14 August to 0.86 by 21 August.
By premium turnover, NIFTY's contracts dominated activity, led by the 18 August expiry (INR 62,926.0 crores) and the 25 August expiry (INR 57,610.0 crores). Among stock options, BSE Ltd (BSE) (INR 971.0 crores) and Multi Commodity Exchange of India Ltd (MCX) (INR 845.8 crores) were the most active.
Among stock options trading at least INR 1 crore of premium turnover on 21 August, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MARUTI) carried the most bullish tilt at a PCR of 0.34 on INR 33.3 crores of turnover, followed by KFin Technologies Ltd (KFINTECH) at 0.38 on INR 28.2 crores. The most bearish tilt among liquid names belonged to BANKNIFTY's far month expiry at a PCR of 1.37 on INR 399.5 crores, with Macrotech Developers Ltd (LODHA) the most bearish among stocks at a PCR of 1.80 on INR 6.3 crores.
BSE Ltd told two different stories this week. Its futures carried one of the week's larger open interest increases among actively traded names, up 21.52% while the price fell 5.63%, a clear Short Buildup. Its options told the opposite story, a PCR by open interest of just 0.46 on the 25 August expiry and 0.59 on the 29 September expiry, both on real turnover of INR 109.3 crores and INR 78.7 crores respectively on Friday alone, more calls open than puts on the same stock. Futures positioning leaned bearish while options positioning stayed call heavy the same week.
Track the full daily breakdown on the Futures and Options pages.
All figures are from NSE end of day futures and options data for 17 to 21 August 2026, as published on bhavcopydata.com. Follow the author at @psanivarapu for more.