Option basics · Lesson 04 of 9 · Lab
Writing a put
Writing a put means selling the right to sell, collecting the premium and taking the obligation to settle if the close finishes below the strike. On 22 September 2026 the NIFTY 23,300 put writer kept ₹7.65 in full, while the 23,450 put writer collected ₹34.85 and settled owing ₹121.15.
NIFTY weekly expiry, 22 September 2026 · MarketCue one-minute option-chain capture
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A chain that actually traded, priced at the open. Click once to buy, twice to sell, a third time to clear.
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. Sold 23,450 PE at ₹34.85 → settled ₹121.15. Net loss of ₹86.30 per unit, or −248% of what was put up. This was the expiry, so those closing prices are settlement values.
Paid to name a purchase price
A put writer receives a premium and accepts the obligation to settle the difference if the underlying finishes below the strike. The gain is capped at the premium; the loss grows as the index falls further beneath it.
On the 22 September chain both outcomes appear at once. The 23,300 put was written for ₹7.65 and settled at ₹0.05, retained almost entirely. The 23,450 put was written for ₹34.85 and settled at ₹121.15 — a shortfall of ₹86.30 against the premium collected.
The asymmetry is the structure
Both those positions were the same trade in form: collect a premium, hope the close stays above the strike. Ninety points of strike separated them, and one retained 99% of the premium while the other gave back three and a half times what it took in.
That shape — many small gains against occasional larger losses — is intrinsic to writing rather than a consequence of this particular session. The lab settles any combination you build against the same close, which is the quickest way to see where the sign changes.
Common questions
What is put writing?
Put writing is selling a put option. The writer collects the premium and is obliged to settle if the underlying closes below the strike. Maximum gain is the premium received; the loss grows as the index falls below the strike.
Is writing puts safer than buying them?
The two carry different shapes of risk, not different amounts of it. A buyer's loss is capped at the premium and is realised often. A writer's gain is capped at the premium and is realised often, with the larger loss concentrated in fewer sessions.
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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.