Nifty Expiry Day: Schedule, Settlement, and How Weekly and Monthly Expiry Works

Nifty expiry day is when Nifty 50 options and futures contracts reach their settlement date. On this day, open positions either get squared off or are settled by the exchange at the final settlement price.

What Happens on Nifty Expiry Day?

When a Nifty contract expires, the exchange calculates a final settlement price. This is based on the average of Nifty 50 values during the last 30 minutes of trading on expiry day. All open options positions are settled against this price.

Options that expire in-the-money (ITM) are cash-settled based on intrinsic value. Options that expire out-of-the-money (OTM) expire worthless. This settlement happens automatically — there is no need to close ITM positions manually by the holder, though most active traders do close before expiry.

Nifty 50 Expiry Day: Weekly and Monthly Schedule

Nifty 50 options have both weekly and monthly expiry cycles. Weekly expiry happens every Tuesday. Monthly expiry occurs on the last Tuesday of each month. When a Tuesday is a market holiday, the expiry shifts to the previous trading day.

Monthly expiry contracts have longer durations. They exist for the current month, the next month, and two months ahead — giving traders up to three active monthly contracts at any time.

Bank Nifty Expiry Day

Bank Nifty expiry day falls every Wednesday. Like Nifty 50, Bank Nifty has both weekly and monthly expiry cycles. Monthly Bank Nifty expiry occurs on the last Wednesday of each month.

Bank Nifty is the second most actively traded index derivative in India after Nifty 50. Its expiry attracts significant options volume, particularly in ATM and near-the-money strikes.

Full Index Expiry Schedule

How Expiry Day Differs from Regular Trading Days

Expiry day trading conditions differ from normal market sessions in several ways.

Time decay accelerates: Option premiums lose time value rapidly on expiry day. ATM options, which are entirely composed of time value, can see premium collapse even when the underlying price barely moves.

Volatility patterns shift: Markets often see higher intraday swings on expiry day as participants square off positions. This creates sharper moves in both directions compared to regular sessions.

Open interest changes: As expiry approaches, total open interest in near-expiry contracts declines sharply as positions are rolled over to the next week or closed.

Max Pain level: The concept of max pain — the strike where total options buyers lose the most — is tracked closely on expiry day. Institutional option writers often hedge near this level, which can influence how price moves in the final hours of trading.

Monthly vs Weekly Expiry: Key Differences

Weekly expiry contracts are settled every Tuesday (for Nifty 50). They have shorter duration and tend to attract more short-term directional and volatility plays. Monthly expiry contracts are used more often for longer-duration strategies and hedging.

Monthly expiry typically sees higher volume than regular weekly expiry because more participants — including institutions — roll or close positions. The final day of monthly expiry is often one of the highest-volume sessions of the month.

NSE and BSE Expiry Calendar

NSE publishes an official derivatives expiry calendar on its website each year. The calendar lists all weekly and monthly expiry dates, including holiday adjustments. Since 2025, NSE and BSE have rationalized index expiry days to reduce market congestion. The current schedule assigns different expiry days to different indices, spreading trading activity across the week rather than concentrating it on a single day.