Strategies · Lesson 05 of 14 · Lab
The long straddle
A long straddle buys the call and the put at the same strike, profiting from a move in either direction. On 22 September 2026 the NIFTY 23,450 straddle cost ₹99.35, with breakevens at 23,351 and 23,550. The index closed at 23,329 — 22 points past the lower breakeven — and the position returned ₹21.85.
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. Bought 23,450 CE at ₹64.50 → settled ₹0.05. Bought 23,450 PE at ₹34.85 → settled ₹121.15. Net gain of ₹21.85 per unit, or +22% of what was put up. This was the expiry, so those closing prices are settlement values.
The price of not choosing a direction
The 23,450 call cost ₹64.50 and the 23,450 put ₹34.85, for ₹99.35 in total. That figure is also the chain’s own market-implied move for the session: the straddle price is what the market charged for the distance it expected in either direction.
Breakevens sit that distance either side of the strike — 23,351 below and 23,550 above. Anything between them and the position loses, with the maximum loss at exactly the strike.
A 131-point move that barely cleared it
NIFTY fell 131 points, which sounds decisive. The straddle returned ₹21.85 on ₹99.35 — the call expired at ₹0.05 and the put settled at ₹121.15.
The reason is that the move is measured from the strike, not from the open. The index closed 121 points below 23,450, and the position needed 99.35 of those just to recover its cost. A large directional move and a marginal straddle outcome are entirely compatible.
Using the 23,550 call and 23,350 put instead cost ₹30.50 rather than ₹99.35, with breakevens at 23,320 and 23,581. The index closed at 23,329 — inside the lower breakeven by nine points — and that position lost ₹9.50 on the same session the straddle made money.
Common questions
What is a long straddle?
One strike, both sides, both bought. What it needs is distance rather than direction — the index must travel further than the pair cost before anything is returned. The 23,450 version cost ₹99.35, so it needed a close outside 23,351 to 23,550.
How far does a straddle need to move to profit?
By more than its own cost, measured from the strike. The NIFTY 23,450 straddle cost ₹99.35, so it needed a close below 23,351 or above 23,550.
All 14 lessons in Strategies →
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.
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