Options trading on Indian exchanges jumps over 40% in October as volatility returns

In that quarter, combined premium turnover had dropped more than 25% to Rs 70,300 crore from Rs 94,100 crore in the April-June quarter, while daily contracts had slipped nearly 20% to 257 million. NSE’s daily options premium turnover rose 34% to Rs 68,700 crore in October. BSE grew even faster, with premium turnover climbing 61% to Rs 37,400 crore — its highest level on record. Average daily contracts on BSE jumped 68% to 183 million, outpacing NSE’s 17% rise to 177 million.

The gap shows that while both exchanges benefited, the smaller exchange captured a larger share of the surge when volatility picked up. For the full July-September quarter, NSE premium turnover had fallen 26% and BSE’s had dropped 24%. Cash market volumes, by contrast, stayed soft on both exchanges. This underlines that the October rebound was concentrated in derivatives rather than a broad rise in equity trading.

Commodity exchange MCX painted a more mixed picture. Its futures turnover fell 24% month-on-month to Rs 497 billion, with gold futures dropping 37% and silver futures easing 22%. Crude oil futures also declined 18%. Options premiums on MCX, however, held up better, easing only 5% to Rs 116 billion. Looking at the broader quarter, MCX futures turnover was actually up nearly 6% and options premiums rose more than 13% compared with the April-June period.

The split highlights how equity options responded more strongly to the recent market swings than commodity futures. The October numbers reverse the quieter trend of the previous quarter. Combined options premium turnover in July-September had fallen more than 25% to Rs 70,300 crore from Rs 94,100 crore in April-June, while daily contracts had dropped nearly 20% to 257 million from 320 million. The latest data shows that slowdown was temporary once volatility returned. Figures for October cover trading only up to 23 October.