What is the NSE bhavcopy, and how do you read the F&O file?

"Bhavcopy" is the name for NSE's end-of-day summary of trading. It is a file published after the market closes, and it is free to download from NSE. Many Indian market tools are built from it.

The main bhavcopy files

• The F&O bhavcopy lists every futures and options contract that traded, with its prices, volume and open interest.
• The cash (equity) bhavcopy lists each stock's open, high, low, close and volume.
• A separate delivery file gives delivery quantity for each stock.

NSE also publishes other end-of-day reports such as participant-wise open interest, the F&O ban list and the market-wide position limit report.

The F&O file's main columns

The names can change when NSE updates its format, but the file includes fields such as:

• TckrSymb: the symbol, for example NIFTY or a stock.
• XpryDt: the expiry date of the contract.
• OptnTp: CE for a call, PE for a put, and blank for a future.
• StrkPric: the strike price of an option.
• OpnIntrst: open interest, in quantity of shares or units.
• LastPric and PrvsClsgPric: the last traded price and the previous close.
• NewBrdLotQty: the lot size.

Things to watch for

• Open interest in the file is a quantity. To get contracts, divide by the lot size.
• The last traded price of a contract that hardly traded can be misleading, so look at volume as well.
• A contract that expires on the file's date has already settled by the close, so its prices are not useful for planning.

What Tradingraph does with it

The site saves each evening's files and builds the option chain, max pain, PCR and the other tools from them in your browser. If you have your own bhavcopy CSV, the Bhavcopy Chain tool lets you load it and see the chain without uploading it anywhere.

Why the numbers can look odd

• Prices in the file are as of the end of the session. A contract that did not trade late in the day shows an older last traded price, so a call and put at the same strike may reflect different moments.
• Very far strikes can show a last price of 0.05 or an old figure, because few people trade them.
• Open interest changes only when positions are opened or closed, so it can stay unchanged even on a day with high volume.
• Several expiries appear in the same file. Always filter for one expiry before you add up open interest, otherwise totals mix different contracts.

Data rights

The data belongs to NSE, and its terms apply to how it can be used and redistributed.

This page is for information and education only and is not trading advice.