The fixed last day on which a futures or options contract can trade, after which the contract ends and any position still open is settled in cash at a final price set by the exchange. Investors searching for what is expiry day in share market are asking about this date.
Every futures and options contract has a fixed life. SEBI is the statutory regulator of India's securities market, with the legal duty to protect investors and to promote and regulate that market. Read the full meaning of SEBI circular of 26 May 2025 requires every equity derivative contract, whether weekly, monthly, quarterly or half yearly, to end on either a Tuesday or a Thursday. Once the final price is fixed, no further profit or loss can build up in that contract.
Which days contracts expire in India
SEBI allows only two days for expiry, Tuesday and Thursday and each exchange uses one of them. The NSE equity derivatives expire on Tuesday, while the BSE Ltd, formerly the Bombay Stock Exchange, is a Mumbai based electronic exchange where shares and other securities are traded under SEBI oversight. Read the full meaning of BSE (Bombay Stock Exchange) derivatives expire on Thursday. The two exchanges had swapped their weekly expiry days with SEBI's approval from September 2025.
Monthly, quarterly and half yearly Nifty contracts expire on the last Tuesday of the expiry month and all NSE monthly stock contracts also expire on that day. If that Tuesday is a trading holiday, the expiry moves to the previous trading day.
For an individual holding a Nifty option bought at a premium of Rs 100, with the final settlement at Rs 130 on expiry day, there will be a gain on each unit before costs, settled in cash.
Why it matters, and weekly vs monthly expiry
Positions that are still open close automatically on the last day, so holders of such contracts need to know the day on which their contract ends. SEBI has said that its aim in standardising the expiry days was to curb volatility.
One common confusion is between weekly and monthly expiry. Bank Nifty, FinNifty, Midcap Nifty and Nifty Next 50 have only monthly and quarterly contracts, and weekly options now exist only on The NSE's main stock index, which tracks 50 large, actively traded companies and weights each by the market value of its publicly tradable shares. Read the full meaning of Nifty 50 at the NSE and Sensex at the BSE.