Gold options on MCX are where Indian traders take a view on gold with a defined premium, and their chain reads like an index chain with a few twists of its own: two contract sizes, a price quoted per 10 grams, and expiries that do not always map onto their own futures month. This guide covers how MCX gold options are built, how to read their volatility and what the dealer-positioning view adds, using the 30 October 2026 series.
Two gold options contracts
- GOLD: 1 kg a lot, quoted in rupees per 10 grams. A lot is 100 price units, so a ₹1 move in the premium is ₹100 a lot.
- GOLDM, the mini: 100 grams a lot, quoted the same way, so a ₹1 move is ₹10 a lot.
They are separate contracts with their own strikes and open interest. Counted in lots, the mini is the busier one: by 20:30 on 27 October 2026 GOLDM’s options had traded about 12 lakh lots against roughly 55,000 for GOLD. A strike carries the same price on both, because both quote per 10 grams.
One future, several expiries
Gold options are options on futures, and the futures month they are written on is not always their own. On 27 October 2026 both the 30 October and the 27 November GOLD options were written on the December future. Two expiries, one underlying: the chain’s middle line for either series showed the same December future, near 1,44,100 that evening.
That matters in two ways. The strikes of both series are read against the same price, so comparing the October and November chains is a comparison across time only. And an in-the-money option at expiry turns into a position in that December future instead of settling in cash (how options on futures work), so the last days of a series need futures margin.
Reading volatility in gold options
Gold options price much less volatility than silver’s or crude oil’s: on the evening of 27 October 2026 the at-the-money 30 October options were near 24% implied volatility, against about 55% for silver’s front options and 55 to 57% for crude oil’s. The more useful comparison is between gold’s own expiries. The 30 October options, three days from expiry, were near 24% while the 27 November options were near 19%: the front was dearer than the next month, a backwardated curve (IV term structure and skew). A front expiry priced above the next one usually means the market expects something before it, and once the event passes that premium tends to drain.
The Volatility page draws gold’s term structure, skew and IV surface, each expiry measured on its own future.
Dealer gamma in gold options
The Dealer Positioning cockpit turns gold’s open interest into hedging pressure: what the dealers on the other side of the market’s options would have to buy or sell to stay hedged as the future moves (gamma exposure explained). The rupee figures use the units in a lot, so one GOLD lot counts as 100 units of the 10-gram price.
The cockpit above is the 30 October series at 21:33 on 27 October 2026. Three readings stand out:
- Negative gamma, the future on the flip. Net gamma was negative and the December future sat on the gamma flip, the level where net gamma changes sign (gamma flip and pin risk). Below the flip dealer hedging tends to add to moves rather than damp them; right on the flip, a small move can change which regime applies.
- A stable pin at 1,45,000. The strike carrying the most hedging pressure was 1,45,000, less than 1,000 points above the future, and the pin was rated stable (pin conviction). It was also the call wall.
- A corridor from 1,40,000 to 1,45,000. The put wall at 1,40,000 and the call wall at 1,45,000 bounded the corridor, with the future near its top.
With 3.1 days left, the open question for the series was whether the pin would keep its pull or the negative gamma would let the future run. The cockpit does not answer it; it shows where the forces sit.
What moves gold options
MCX gold follows the international gold price in dollars and the rupee. The figures that move interest rates, US inflation and jobs at 18:00 IST in the US summer and 19:00 in winter, and the Federal Reserve’s decisions (the FOMC meeting calendar), all arrive in the Indian evening, so gold options often reprice after the equity market has closed. A change in India’s import duty on gold moves the domestic price directly.
Gold options on OIData
OIData shows GOLD and GOLDM through your own broker connection, minute by minute from 09:00 to MCX’s close: the option chain with open interest in lots, IV and max pain; Trending OI from 09:00; the Dealer Positioning cockpit above; and the Commodities tab of the GEX Screener, which ranks gold against crude oil, silver, natural gas and copper by net gamma. The gold option chain page sums up the contracts.
Gold options FAQ
What is the lot size of gold options on MCX? 1 kg for GOLD and 100 g for GOLDM, both quoted in rupees per 10 grams.
Why do two gold expiries show the same future? Gold options are written on a futures month that is not always their own; in late October 2026 the October and November series were both written on the December future.
Are gold options settled in cash? No. MCX gold options are options on futures: an in-the-money option at expiry turns into a position in the future it is written on.
When do gold options move most? Usually in the Indian evening, when US data and the Federal Reserve’s decisions arrive.
Is GOLDM open interest comparable with GOLD open interest? Only after allowing for size: a GOLDM lot is a tenth of a GOLD lot.
Takeaways
- Gold options come as GOLD (1 kg) and GOLDM (100 g), both quoted per 10 grams.
- Two gold expiries can share one future; read each chain against the future it shows.
- Gold options price far less volatility than silver or crude oil; compare expiries to see what is priced in.
- Dealer gamma shows where hedging damps or adds to moves; a future sitting on the flip is a regime boundary.
- The news that moves gold arrives in the Indian evening.