Bank Nifty (BANKNIFTY) Max Pain
Payout by settlement strike
Max pain vs price
Max pain vs spot: last 30 sessions
Bank Nifty (BANKNIFTY) Max Pain: What It Means
The idea in one line
Max pain is the strike at which, if BANKNIFTY settled there on expiry day, option buyers as a group would lose the most and option writers would pay out the least. It is sometimes called the "option pain" point.
How it is calculated
For every possible settlement strike, we add up how much every in-the-money call and put would be worth at expiry, using the open interest at each strike. A call at strike K is worth (settlement minus K) if settlement is above K; a put is worth (K minus settlement) if settlement is below K. The strike with the smallest total payout is max pain.
Reading the chart
Each strike shows two bars. The green bar is the total value that call holders would receive if expiry settled at that strike; the red bar is the same for put holders. Their combined height is lowest at the max pain strike, marked with the orange line. The dashed black line shows where BANKNIFTY closed.
How Traders Use BANKNIFTY Max Pain
As a reference, not a target
Some traders believe prices drift toward max pain into expiry because option writers, who are often large, prefer it that way. The evidence for this is mixed. Treat max pain as one reference level for the expiry, alongside the highest call and put OI strikes.
Distance from the price
The gap between the BANKNIFTY close and max pain matters more than the number itself. A price far from max pain with many days left means little. A price far from max pain with one or two sessions left means a large payout is building for one side, which is worth noting.
Watch how it moves
Max pain changes every day as OI changes. The history chart shows its path for the selected expiry against the BANKNIFTY close. A max pain that keeps shifting in one direction shows how writers are repositioning as the expiry approaches.
Most useful near expiry
Early in an expiry cycle, OI is spread thin and max pain can jump between strikes. In the final week, OI is concentrated and the level becomes more stable and more closely watched.
Limitations of Max Pain
It ignores why positions exist
Max pain treats all OI as if it were written by speculators. In reality many positions are hedges for stock or futures holdings, and those writers may be happy to lose on the option.
News beats max pain
Results, policy announcements and global moves easily override any pull toward max pain. It says nothing about fundamentals or events.
End-of-day snapshot
This page uses NSE end-of-day data, so max pain is calculated from closing OI. It does not capture intraday shifts.
BANKNIFTY Max Pain: Frequently Asked Questions
What is BANKNIFTY max pain today?
The current value is shown in the summary card above, calculated from the latest NSE end-of-day OI for the selected expiry. Change the expiry to see max pain for other expiries.
Does BANKNIFTY always close near max pain on expiry?
No. It sometimes settles close to it and often does not. Max pain is a reference level, not a forecast.
Why does max pain change every day?
It depends entirely on open interest. As traders open and close positions at different strikes, the strike with the lowest total payout moves.
Is max pain the same as the strike with the highest OI?
Not necessarily. The highest OI strike is where the most contracts sit; max pain weighs every strike by how far in the money it would be, so it usually lands between the heavy call and heavy put strikes.
Which expiry should I use?
Use the nearest expiry for the current week or month. Farther expiries have thinner OI, which makes their max pain less stable.
How is max pain different from PCR?
PCR compares total put OI with total call OI as a single ratio. Max pain uses the OI at each strike to find one price level. They answer different questions and are often read together.
Max Pain for other indices & stocks
Data: NSE F&O bhavcopy (end of day). This page explains how market participants commonly read this data. It is for education only and is not a recommendation to buy or sell any security.