Option basics · Lesson 01 of 9 · Concept
What a call option is worth
A call option is the right to buy at a fixed strike price. At expiry it is worth the gap between the closing level and that strike, and nothing if there is no gap. NIFTY closed at 23,329 on 22 September 2026: the 23,300 call settled at ₹29.00, and the 23,350 call at ₹0.05.
NIFTY weekly expiry, 22 September 2026 · MarketCue one-minute option-chain capture
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Prices captured at the open on Tuesday, 22 September 2026. NIFTY spot at the open: 23,460. The highlighted row is nearest the money.
NIFTY closed at 23,329, down 131 points from the open. Bought 23,450 CE at ₹64.50 → settled ₹0.05. Net loss of ₹64.45 per unit, or −100% of what was put up. This was the expiry, so those closing prices are settlement values.
The definition, checked against three settlements
A call gives its buyer the right, not the obligation, to buy the underlying at a fixed strike price up to a fixed expiry. The buyer pays a premium for that right. The seller receives the premium and carries the matching obligation.
On 22 September 2026 NIFTY closed at 23,329, and three calls expiring that afternoon settled like this. The 23,200 call, whose holder could buy 129 points below the close, settled at ₹128.80. The 23,300 call, 29 points below, settled at ₹29.00. The 23,350 call, whose strike finished above the close, settled at ₹0.05.
Each of those matches the arithmetic the definition implies, because at 15:30 there is nothing else left in the price. A call is worth what it saves you against the closing level, or it is worth nothing.
What the buyer paid is a separate number
The three contracts above opened that morning at ₹282.80, ₹189.40 and ₹140.00. Against their settlements, a buyer who held from the open to expiry finished down 54%, 85% and 100% respectively.
The first of those finished 129 points in the money and still returned less than half of what it cost. Moneyness describes where the strike sits against the closing level; it carries no information about whether a position made money, which depends entirely on the premium paid. Conflating the two is the most common early error in options, and this session separates them cleanly.
NIFTY finished 131 points below its open. A call gains value as the index rises, so a falling session leaves no strike at which a call buyer who entered at the open finished ahead. The put side of the same chain is the mirror image, and is covered in the next lesson.
Common questions
What is a call option in simple terms?
A call option is the right to buy an underlying at a fixed price, called the strike, until a fixed expiry date. The buyer pays a premium for that right and is never obliged to use it. At expiry the right is worth the closing level minus the strike, or nothing if the strike is higher.
How is a call option price calculated at expiry?
At expiry a call settles at max(0, closing level − strike). On NIFTY's 22 September 2026 expiry the index closed at 23,329, so the 23,300 call settled at ₹29.00 and the 23,350 call at ₹0.05 — the exchange's minimum tick rather than a traded value.
Can a call option finish in the money and still lose money?
Yes. On 22 September 2026 the NIFTY 23,200 call finished 129 points in the money and settled at ₹128.80, against ₹282.80 paid at the open — a 54% loss. In the money describes where the strike sits relative to the close; profit depends on the premium paid.
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Written and maintained by MarketCue research · Updated 9:30 AM IST · 23 October 2026
How these figures are produced
Every price on these pages was traded on the exchange and is read from our own option-chain capture, which records the NIFTY and SENSEX chains once a minute through the session. Each page names the session its figures come from.
Figures that a model produced rather than the market — the Greeks, implied volatility — are labelled as model outputs wherever they appear, and never presented beside traded prices without saying which is which. The pricing is checked against published reference values on every change.
Where our own data cannot support a claim, the page says so instead of generalising. MarketCue is not a registered investment adviser, research analyst or broker under SEBI regulations.