Option Chain
A table of every call and put across strikes for one expiry, with premium, open interest, volume and implied volatility per strike.
Also called: NSE option chain · nifty option chain · options table · OC
What it means
An option chain lists the contracts available on an underlying for a given expiry. Calls are conventionally shown on the left, puts on the right, strikes down the middle. Each row carries the last traded premium, open interest, the change in open interest, traded volume and implied volatility.
The chain is read for structure rather than for individual prices. Where open interest is concentrated, how it changed today, and how implied volatility varies across strikes together describe what positions are actually in place — which is information price alone does not carry.
The at-the-money row, the strike nearest spot, is the usual reference point. It moves as spot moves, so a strike that was at the money at entry is not at the money an hour later.
How OptionLab Pro’s engine uses it
In the live engine
We fetch chains through a nine-source cascade so a single broker outage does not blank the surface, and the order is pinned identically across seven files with CI checks that fail the build on drift. Greeks are derived with Black-Scholes and implied volatility inverted from the traded premium. A source returning a chain with a zero or missing underlying price is rejected outright rather than passed through: a zero spot collapses every Greek to a degenerate value and breaks at-the-money pinning, so falling through to the next source is the correct failure.
python-backend/src/broker_adapter.py (OC cascade) · go/internal/optionchain/The common mistake
Where traders get this wrong
Reading high open interest at a strike as a prediction that price will go there. Open interest records contracts outstanding; it does not say who is long or short, and the same number is consistent with opposite positioning. Also: comparing today's open interest against a stale chain — the figure that carries information is the CHANGE, which needs a correct reference point.
Go deeper
There is a full lesson on this in the Academy, with an interactive widget and a Hindi translation.
Related terms
Educational and analytical content only. OptionLab Pro is not a SEBI-registered investment adviser or research analyst and does not give buy or sell recommendations. Derivatives trading carries a high risk of loss.