The box result is the same on every row, because the payoff at expiry does not depend on where the index closes
| Move in the future | 20 days after the example date, rupees |
|---|---|
| IV same | |
| −4% | +172 |
| −2% | +172 |
| 0% | +172 |
| +2% | +172 |
| +4% | +172 |
Green is profit and red is loss; deeper colour means a larger amount. The outlined cell is the starting point.
A box spread is four option legs on one expiry: a long call and a short put at the lower strike, and a short call and a long put at the higher strike. At expiry the four legs add up to the gap between the strikes, whatever the index closes at. The price paid today, measured against that payoff, is the interest the position earns for holding money to expiry. That is why the box is studied as a way to read a rate.
The chart shows a box on the 10 Jun 2026 chain for the 30 Jun 2026 expiry, with the strikes five hundred points apart. Every row shows the same result after the premium is paid, at each index move, because the payoff at expiry does not change with the index. The only thing that differs between the trades is what was paid.
Three things keep the result from being a clean return for a retail account. The rate is read from settlement prices, and a settlement is not a price you can hit on all four legs at once. Each leg carries brokerage, exchange and SEBI charges, GST, and STT on the sold premium and on the in the money value that is exercised. And the margin blocked on the short legs earns nothing extra, or is funded at a cost.
European style Nifty options remove the early exercise risk that hurt box trades on American options. They do not remove the cost stack. The box rate is a way to read a rate, and the costs decide whether that reading is a return at all.
Before you trade. Derivatives trading carries a high risk of loss. SEBI's study "Profitability of Individual Traders in the Equity Derivatives Segment (FY25 to FY26)" (August 2026) found that 87.7% of individual traders in equity F&O made net losses in FY26, with aggregate net losses of Rs 91,685 crore. Read the SEBI study