Lack of volatility poses challenge for options trade

India’s stock market has become one of the calmest in the world — so calm that it's prompting a rethink of strategies among players in the country’s vast derivatives space.

- Bloomberg

Despite geopolitical flare ups and a recent global selloff in risk assets, the NSE Nifty 50 Index has barely budged for months as domestic money overwhelms foreign flows and derivatives trading curbs choke off volatility. The India NSE Volatility Index, a gauge tracking expectations for future swings, ended Friday at an all-time low.

For the traders powering the world’s largest options market by volume, that’s making it harder to profit from the well-known strategies. Volatility is the engine of derivatives trading: when markets swing, investors pay up to hedge, and the cost of contracts rise. When stocks are calm, premiums shrink, eroding returns for option sellers and leaving traditional strategies less profitable.