---
title: "Max Pain Checker for Nifty, With the Evidence | RupeeCase"
description: "Free max pain checker on dated NSE chains: the payout curve, and settlement against max pain and the previous close on every expiry in the file."
source_url: "https://www.rupeecase.com/learn/tools/max-pain-checker"
---

* Max pain**23,300**strike with the least payout
* Previous close**23,214.95**index close on 10 Jun 2026
* Settlement**23,989.15**index close on 16 Jun 2026
* Nearer the settlement**Max pain**by 85 points

Open interest on 10 Jun 2026 for the 16 Jun 2026 expiry: calls 11.45 crore units, puts 9.37 crore units. If the index settled at 23,300, option buyers would collect Rs 482 crore in all, the least of any strike. Jump to the evidence on every expiry.

The payout to buyers is lowest at 23,300, and the index settled at 23,989

For each settlement level on the x axis, what all call and put buyers in the 16 Jun 2026 Nifty expiry would collect, from open interest in units on 10 Jun 2026. Source: NSE end of day data, computed by RupeeCase. As of 10 Jun 2026.

### The evidence: settlement against max pain and against the previous close

* **6 expiries with a chain 6 sessions out or fewer:** max pain was nearer on 4 of 6, the previous close on 2. A fair coin gives 4 or more of 6 about 34% of the time.
* **4 expiries with a chain further out:** max pain was nearer on 2 of 4, the previous close on 2. A fair coin gives 2 or more of 4 about 69% of the time.
* **Not scored:** 7 expiries in the file, because the index close file starts on 1 Jul 2025.

Max pain was nearer the settlement on 6 of 10 scored Nifty expiries, too few to count

Points by which max pain was nearer the settlement than the previous close (the index close on the chain date). Above zero means max pain was nearer. Settlement is the index close on expiry day. Source: NSE end of day data, computed by RupeeCase. As of 28 Jul 2026.

| Expiry | Max pain | Close | Settled | Nearer |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 31 Jul 2025chain 11 Jun 2025, 50 days | 25,000 | 25,141 | 24,768 | Max pain |
| 3 Feb 2026chain 2 Feb 2026, 1 session | 25,050 | 25,088 | 25,728 | Close |
| 10 Feb 2026chain 2 Feb 2026, 6 sessions | 25,100 | 25,088 | 25,935 | Max pain |
| 24 Feb 2026chain 2 Feb 2026, 16 sessions | 25,500 | 25,088 | 25,425 | Max pain |
| 30 Mar 2026chain 2 Feb 2026, 38 sessions | 26,000 | 25,088 | 22,331 | Close |
| 16 Jun 2026chain 10 Jun 2026, 4 sessions | 23,300 | 23,215 | 23,989 | Max pain |
| 23 Jun 2026chain 16 Jun 2026, 5 sessions | 23,900 | 23,989 | 23,824 | Max pain |
| 30 Jun 2026chain 29 Jun 2026, 1 session | 24,000 | 23,946 | 23,866 | Close |
| 7 Jul 2026chain 29 Jun 2026, 6 sessions | 24,000 | 23,946 | 24,399 | Max pain |
| 28 Jul 2026chain 29 Jun 2026, 21 sessions | 24,100 | 23,946 | 23,985 | Close |

7 expiries in the file cannot be scoredThe index close file starts on 1 Jul 2025, so there is no settlement to compare with for these expiries. Choose one in the box above to see its max pain curve alone: 9 Apr 2025 (chain of 7 Apr 2025), 17 Apr 2025 (chain of 7 Apr 2025), 24 Apr 2025 (chain of 7 Apr 2025), 29 May 2025 (chain of 7 Apr 2025), 12 Jun 2025 (chain of 11 Jun 2025), 19 Jun 2025 (chain of 11 Jun 2025), 26 Jun 2025 (chain of 11 Jun 2025).

Close is the previous close: the index close on the chain date. Sessions are NSE trading sessions from the chain date to expiry; where the close file does not reach the chain date the calendar days are shown. Max pain here is the lowest strike among ties. Not a verdict: a handful of expiries cannot separate max pain from luck, and the previous close is a fair plain forecast to beat.

  Open interest and settlement come from NSE end of day files, dated on the page. Not live, not a forecast, and this page cannot trade.

## How to read it

### The curve

For each possible settlement level, the total that every call and put buyer in the expiry would collect, from open interest in units on the chain date. The lowest point is max pain. Prices are not used, only open interest.

### The test

Max pain is a calculation, and a forecast has to beat a plain one. The plain forecast here is the previous close: the index stays where it closed on the chain date. Each bar is how many points nearer to the settlement max pain was, so above zero means max pain was nearer.

### The count

The line above the chart says how often a fair coin would do as well. A handful of expiries is a small sample, so the honest reading today is "not shown", not "works" or "fails". The full test, with a rule written down before the data is pulled, is in [the max pain module](/learn/path-15/module-15-4-max-pain); [the question page](/learn/questions/does-max-pain-work) gives the short answer.

## What it leaves out

Settlement is the index close on expiry day, which is the rule for every expiry in the file (the last is 28 Jul 2026). SEBI's circular of 15 Oct 2026 changes the method from 7 Dec 2026, so later expiries need a fresh test. Expiries whose close is not in the file cannot be scored. Pinning of prices near option strikes is studied in academic work on US stocks; that is a narrower claim than max pain predicting the close.

## Go to the source

1. [SEBI, master circular on exchange traded derivatives: the index settlement price is the index close on expiry day](https://www.sebi.gov.in/sebi_data/commondocs/dec-2024/RE_Chapter%205%20-%20Exchange%20Traded%20Derivatives%20FINAL_1_p.pdf)
2. [SEBI, circular of 15 Oct 2026 on the closing auction session and the settlement method for derivatives, from 7 Dec 2026](https://www.sebi.gov.in/legal/circulars/oct-2026/review-of-certain-aspects-of-the-closing-auction-session-market-timings-and-settlement-methodology-for-derivatives-contracts_105293.html)
3. [NSE, equity derivatives contract specifications](https://www.nseindia.com/static/products-services/equity-derivatives-contract-specifications)
4. [Ni, Pearson and Poteshman (2005), Stock price clustering on option expiration dates, Journal of Financial Economics](https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jfinec/v78y2005i1p49-87.html) paper

Does max pain predict where the index settles?The expiries in this file are too few to say either way. The evidence section shows the count, and the question page and the module carry the full test.

What does open interest in units mean?NSE reports open interest in units, which is contracts times the lot size. Volume is reported in contracts, so the two are only compared after converting.

Why is the previous close the plain forecast?Because it costs nothing to produce. If max pain cannot land nearer the settlement than the last close does, it adds no information to the chain.

LLearn it in depth

[Module 15.4Max pain: the calculation and a Nifty testBeginner, Path 15](/learn/path-15/module-15-4-max-pain)[ToolPayoff builderLegs from a dated chain](/learn/tools/payoff-builder)[Pillar guideDerivatives and QuantPaths 12 to 19](/learn/derivatives)

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Education only, not investment advice, a research report or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any security. RupeeCase (QC Alpha Technologies Pvt Ltd) is not registered with SEBI as an investment adviser or research analyst. Contracts and prices shown are for illustration only, come from NSE end of day files at least 30 days old, and are not recommendatory. Derivatives trading carries a high risk of loss.