Covered put (against short futures)

Also called: Short futures + short put

Hold short futures and sell an out-of-the-money put: the premium cushions small rises, and the gain stops below the put strike.

Payoff sketch (per unit, index points)

At expiry

Today (7 days left)

Net premium

Credit 87 pts

Max profit

+318 pts (₹20,649 per lot)

Max loss

Unlimited above the chart

Breakeven

25,118

Legs: Sell futures · Sell PE ATM −200. Illustration, not live prices: an index at 25,000, strikes 100 points apart, Black-Scholes premiums at 13% implied volatility, 7 days to expiry, 6.5% interest, no skew and before charges. Rupees per lot use a NIFTY lot of 65.

How it works

The mirror of a covered call. A rally hurts the short futures without limit; the put premium only softens it.

At expiry the payoff matches a short call at the put's strike.

When traders use it

Earning premium on a short futures position expected to drift lower slowly.

Greeks

Delta	Negative.
Gamma	Negative.
Theta	Positive.
Vega	Negative.

Profit, loss and margin

Max profit	(Futures entry − put strike + put premium) × quantity.
Max loss	Unlimited above the breakeven.
Breakeven	Futures entry + put premium.
Margin	The futures margin; the short put adds little.

In India

Futures are marked to market daily and need SPAN plus exposure margin; STT is charged on the sell side (0.05% from 1 April 2026 in Arthfy's cost model). Index futures expire monthly.
STT is charged on the premium when an option is sold (0.15% of premium from 1 April 2026 in Arthfy's cost model). A short option left to expire, in or out of the money, is not charged STT again at settlement.

Arthfy numbers

At expiry this has the same payoff as a short call at the put's strike; see the short call page for Arthfy's history of that shape. See Short call (naked).

Try it in the F&O hub

Opens the tool with this structure on today's NIFTY chain. Reading is free with an Arthfy account; some runs use free attempts.

Open in the builderPayoff, Greeks, scenario grid and charges on today's NIFTY chain

Open the option chainLive premiums, IV and Greeks

Single options

Short call (naked)

Hedges with futures

Protective call (against short futures)