Upcoming F&O Expiry - Mar ’26

As the Indian derivative market gears up for the March 2026 series, market participants are preparing for a challenging month. March marks the end of a financial year (FY26), a time of the year that is often characterised by high institutional positioning, tax-loss harvesting, and significant rollover activity.With the new expiry timelines, NSE on Tuesdays & BSE on Thursdays, effective from September 2025, continuing in full swing, it is important to know the exact expiry dates for position management, rollover and hedging. As derivative contracts cannot expire on a trading holiday, March will see several of its important weekly and monthly expiry dates preponed. Here, we will explore the exact F&O expiry timelines across NSE, BSE, and MCX in March 2026.What are F&O expiry dates?In the derivatives market, expiry is the last trading day for a specific futures or options contract. Once the market closes on that day, the contract ceases to exist. Traders who hold open positions have the following options:Square off: Close out the trade before the market closes to realise the profit or loss and avoid the troubles of physical or cash settlement.Roll over: To keep exposure to the market, exit the current month contract and take a new position in the next month’s contract.Let it expire: For options, out-of-the-money options become worthless, while in-the-money options are either cash-settled or physically delivered, depending on the underlying asset. Futures are settled at the closing price.Liquidity and volatility increase as expiry dates come near, with large institutions rolling over their positions. Thus, keeping an eye on the expiry calendar is the first line of defence against unexpected market swings.Important changes for March 2026The expiry cycle for March 2026 is interrupted by three significant weekday trading holidays, i.e., Holi (3rd March), Shri Ram Navami (26th March) and Shri Mahavir Jayanti (31st March). Because a contract cannot expire on a market holiday, exchange rules specify that the expiry occurs on the preceding business day.Consequently, traders will have to realign their theta decay calculations and rollover strategies as both the NSE and BSE will experience preponed monthly expiries on Monday and Wednesday, respectively.Index expiries in March 2026 (NSE & BSE)Following the new structural changes, the NSE operates through a Tuesday expiry cycle, while the BSE operates through a Thursday cycle. Here is how the adjustments for the holidays will impact the index derivatives:NSE Derivative ExpiriesDue to trading holidays on 3rd March and 31st March, the respective weekly and monthly expiries are advanced to the following Mondays. ExchangeContract TypeIndexExpiry DatesNSEWeeklyNIFTY 502nd March (Monday; shifted due to trading holiday on 3rd March)10th March (Tuesday)17th March (Tuesday)24th March (Tuesday)30th March (Monday; shifted due to trading holiday on 31st March)NSEMonthlyNIFTY Next 50, BANKNIFTY, FINNIFTY, MIDCPNIFTY30th March (Monday; shifted due to trading holiday on 31st March) BSE Derivative ExpiriesDue to the trading holiday on 26th March, the BSE monthly expiry has been moved to Wednesday. ExchangeContract TypeIndexExpiry DatesBSEWeeklySENSEXThursday of the expiry week (5, 12,19, 25)5th March (Thursday)12th March (Thursday)19th March (Thursday)25th March (Wednesday; shifted due to trading holiday on 26th March)BSEMonthlyBANKEX, SENSEX5025th March (Wednesday; shifted due to trading holiday on 26th March) Stock Expiries in Mar 2026 (NSE & BSE)Individual stock options and futures follow the same pattern of monthly expiry as their corresponding exchange indices. Traders who hold stock derivatives positions must keep themselves aware of the preponed dates to avoid forced settlement. ExchangeSegmentContract TypeExpiry DateNSEStock Options/FuturesStocks30th March (Monday; shifted due to trading holiday on 31st March) BSEStock Options/FuturesStocks25th March (Wednesday; shifted due to trading holiday on 26th March) Commodity expiries in Mar 2026 (MCX)Commodity traders need to monitor the expirations separately for each commodity because, unlike equities, the Multi-Commodity Exchange (MCX) does not follow uniform end-of-month cycles. MCX contract expiries are spread across the month based on the specific metal, energy, or agricultural asset in question. ExchangeCommodity GroupContract TypeExpiry DateMCXGOLDMFutures5 MarchMCXSILVERFutures5 MarchMCXNICKELFutures18 MarchMCXCRUDEOILMFutures19 MarchMCXCRUDEOILFutures19 MarchMCXMCXMETLDEXFutures23 MarchMCXMCXBULLDEXFutures24 MarchMCXNATGASMINIFutures26 MarchMCXNATURALGASFutures26 MarchMCXCRUDEOILMOptions17 MarchMCXCRUDEOILOptions17 MarchMCXCOPPEROptions23 MarchMCXZINCOptions23 MarchMCXMCXMETLDEXOptions24 MarchMCXMCXBULLDEXOptions24 MarchMCXGOLDOptions24 MarchMCXNATGASMINIOptions24 MarchMCXNATURALGASOptions24 MarchMCXSILVEROptions26 MarchMCXSILVERMOptions26 MarchMCXGOLDMOptions26 March Wrap upThe expiry cycle in March 2026 challenges traders to manage multiple variables simultaneously, in a month filled with holidays. With three market holidays, a series of expiry-day shifts, and the financial year-end, March requires more pre-work than any other month in 2026.From managing the weekly rollovers for Holi to synchronising the March monthly series close with the F&O year-end on the horizon to tracking the MCX revised dates, being aware of these dates is the first step in managing the surprises that March 2026 has in store.

Upcoming F&O Expiry - Mar ’26

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