Put-call ratio (PCR)
The put-call ratio is put open interest divided by call open interest across a stock's options and all expiries, so above 1 means more open puts than calls. A volume-based twin uses contracts traded rather than contracts outstanding.
`pcr_oi` divides the open interest in a stock's put options by that in its calls, summed across every strike and expiry. `pcr_vol` is the same ratio on the day's traded contracts. A reading of 1 means equal puts and calls; 0.5 means calls outnumber puts two to one; 1.3 means puts dominate. Both are options-segment fields, so they need `from fno`, and `pcr_oi` is NULL on a day when a stock has no open calls at all.
The classic reading is contrarian. It rests on who writes options. Most open put interest is sold by participants collecting premium, who then have a financial interest in the stock staying above their strikes and tend to defend them, which is why a high `pcr_oi` in an uptrend reads as support being underwritten and why the Put support scan exists at all. A very low ratio means the book is call-heavy, either speculative call buying or covered writers capping the upside, and both make further advances harder.
The caveat is that the same number means different things in different contexts. A high PCR in a falling stock is hedging, holders buying protection, and a scan without a trend filter mixes the two populations. PCR also spikes around results, when both sides of the book buy options. The volume version is noisy on any single day. The OI version is steadier, because it accumulates.
The siblings are the futures fields. `fut_oi` and `fut_oi_change_pct` describe the futures side of the same positioning story, and `fut_basis_pct` says what the futures price implies about the direction the leveraged crowd expects. Read together, a stock with a high put ratio, rising futures OI and a premium basis has a very different book from one with the put ratio alone.
In Sift
Written as pcr_oi — put OI ÷ call OI; pcr_vol — put volume ÷ call volume; F&O stocks only, so write `from fno`. A working scan — F&O stocks with more open puts than open calls:
from fno where pcr_oi > 11
of the 500 most-traded NSE stocks match today, as of 25 Sept 2026
Scans that use it
Prebuilt scans in the library whose query reads this value — each with a hit-rate replay over the last 250 sessions.
Put writers underneath
Put-call open interest ratio above 0.8 in a stock above its 50-day. Put writers are paid to defend the strikes below.
Call-heavy positioning
Put-call open interest ratio under 0.4. Optimism crowded enough to be worth distrusting.
Put-heavy options flow
Put volume above 0.7 times call volume on the session.
Common questions
What is a good put-call ratio?
There is no single level; the ratio is read relative to the stock and to its trend. Around 0.7 to 1 is ordinary for most F&O stocks. Above 1 in an uptrend is read as put writers underwriting support, while the same reading in a downtrend is hedging. Below about 0.5 means the book is call-heavy, which caps advances as often as it signals optimism.
Is a high PCR bullish or bearish?
The contrarian reading is bullish, because heavy put interest is mostly written and writers defend their strikes. It only holds when the trend supports it. In a falling stock a high PCR is protection being bought. A trend condition alongside the ratio, such as `close > sma(50)`, is what separates the two readings.
What is the difference between PCR by OI and PCR by volume?
OI counts contracts outstanding, so `pcr_oi` reflects positions that were held overnight and accumulates over days. Volume counts contracts traded, so `pcr_vol` reflects one session's flow and is far noisier. Most scans use the OI version and reserve the volume version for catching a single day's unusual activity.