Testing a metal to confirm its purity against the grade the contract specifies. The cost falls on the party taking or making delivery.
Commodity derivatives
Commodities, where the contract matters as much as the price
Access commodity markets and explore trading opportunities in eligible contracts across segments such as bullion, energy and metals. Commodity prices are influenced by global demand, supply, economic developments and geopolitical events. Yukti offers a platform to participate in commodity markets with convenience and transparency. Make informed decisions with a clear understanding of market volatility and risk.
MCX & MSEIOpen until 11:30 pm₹20 flat per order
SEBI-registered broker
Free account opening
No live prices to go stale
Commodity derivatives at a glanceThe mechanics that do not change from one contract to the next
- Where it trades
- MCX and MSEIWe are a member of both; the contract list is set by the exchange.
- Non-agri session
- 9:00 am to 11:30 pmSo the Indian market overlaps London and New York.
- Agri session
- 9:00 am to 5:00 pmDomestic crops have no overnight international reference.
- Traded in
- Lots, with a quotation unitTwo separate numbers, and both are needed to value a tick.
- Metals settlement
- Compulsory deliveryBullion and base metals. There is no cash-settlement escape.
- Energy settlement
- CashSettled against the international benchmark. Nothing is delivered.
- Brokerage
- ₹20 per executed orderThe same flat fee whatever the contract value.
Contract specifications, lot sizes, quotation units, tick sizes, expiry cycles, session timings and the list of available contracts are set by the exchange and are revised from time to time. Some agricultural contracts are suspended or reintroduced by regulatory direction. The exchange website and your contract note are the authoritative record.
Three risks that belong to this segment alone. First, leverage: a commodity future is funded on a margin that is a fraction of the contract value, so a small move in the underlying is a large move on your money, and a loss can exceed what you put up. Second, the overnight gap: crude oil, natural gas and the base metals track international benchmarks that keep trading after our market closes, so a position held overnight can open far from where you left it. Third, delivery: several contracts settle by compulsory physical delivery, and a position carried into the tender period becomes an obligation to give or take the goods. Trade only with money you can afford to lose, and read the Risk Disclosure Document before you begin. Nothing on this page is a recommendation to trade or to take any position.
Start here
Four things that make commodities different
Everything a commodity trader gets wrong in the first year comes from one of these four, and all four are mechanical rather than a matter of judgment.
These markets exist for producers, not traders
A refiner, a jeweller, an importer or a farmer-producer organisation uses a commodity contract to fix a price in advance and remove uncertainty from a business. Speculators provide the liquidity that makes hedging possible, and take the risk the hedgers are shedding.
Consequence: the contract is written around physical trade, which is why grades, warehouses and delivery periods exist at all.
A tick is not a tick
In equities a rupee of movement on one share is a rupee. Here the value of the smallest price step depends on the lot size, the unit the contract is quoted in and the tick size, three separate numbers that differ for every commodity.
Consequence: thinking in points instead of rupees per tick is the fastest way to size a position wrongly.
The market is open when you are not watching
The non-agricultural session runs into the night so that the Indian market overlaps London and New York, where the price of gold, crude and copper is actually set. Most of the day's range in energy is often made after six in the evening.
Consequence: an intraday stop protects you during the session and does nothing about the gap that follows it.
Some contracts end in a warehouse
Bullion and base metal contracts settle by compulsory physical delivery. There is no cash-settlement option at expiry: a position still open when the tender period ends becomes an obligation to give or take the goods, in the exact grade and quantity specified.
Consequence: if you are trading the price and not the metal, square off or roll before the tender period opens.
What you can trade
Four groups, and each answers to a different master
They share an order pad, a ledger and a client code. They share almost nothing else: the settlement type, the session, the drivers and the failure modes are different in every one.
Bullion
Gold and silver, in several contract sizesThe most widely held commodity exposure in India, and the one most people already understand as an asset rather than as an industrial input. Priced off the international market and the rupee together, so two variables move the screen rather than one.
- Contracts in sizes from very small to full, so the lot can be matched to the account rather than the reverse.
- Silver is part precious metal and part industrial input, which makes it considerably more volatile than gold.
- Domestic physical demand concentrates around the festive and wedding seasons and shows up as a local premium or discount.
SettlementCompulsory delivery
Session9:00 am to 11:30 pm
Quoted inPer 10 grams, or per kilogram
Priced offInternational price, the rupee and import duty
What moves it
- Real interest rates and the dollar
- The rupee, continuously
- Import duty and cesses, on notification
- Central bank buying and festive demand
Where people get caught
Bullion settles by compulsory delivery. A position carried into the tender period becomes an obligation to take or give metal of a stated fineness at a designated warehouse, with margin rising toward the full value of the goods.
The list of contracts available in each group is set by the exchange and changes over time; some agricultural contracts are suspended or reintroduced by regulatory direction. This section describes the character of each group rather than an inventory of what is listed today. Nothing here is a recommendation to trade any commodity.
Market hours
The commodity market is open when the equity market is shut
This is the first thing that surprises people arriving from equities, and it is also the reason the segment exists in the shape it does.
All listed contracts trade Bullion, energy and base metals onlyDiagram is schematic; timings are notified by the exchange.
Why the evening exists
Gold, crude and copper are priced internationally. The evening session lets the Indian market trade while London and New York are open, so the domestic price tracks the global one instead of gapping at the next morning's open.
Practical effect: the most informative hours for these contracts are the ones after dinner.
Why agri closes earlier
Domestic agricultural commodities have no overnight international reference to track, so an evening session would trade on nothing. They close with the day session, and some carry their own shorter window notified by the exchange.
Practical effect: an agri position is carried overnight with no ability to react until the next morning.
Holidays and expiry days
The commodity holiday list is not the equity one, and on some national holidays only the evening session trades. On expiry day a contract stops trading at its own notified time, which can be earlier than the normal close.
Practical effect: check the calendar before assuming you can exit on a given day.
Read the specification first
Three numbers decide what a tick is worth to you
The lot size, the unit the contract is quoted in and the tick size. Take all three from the contract specification for the commodity you are about to trade, put them in below, and the arithmetic is done for you.
Trading unit, the lot
How much of the commodity one contract covers: a kilogram, thirty kilograms, a hundred barrels, five tonnes. You trade whole lots and nothing smaller, which is why mini and micro versions of popular contracts exist.
On the specification as: trading unit, or lot size.
Quotation, the unit priced
The price on the screen is not the price of the whole lot. It is the price of one quotation unit: per ten grams, per kilogram, per barrel, per mmBtu. Divide the lot by the quotation unit and you get the multiple you need.
On the specification as: price quotation, or quotation unit.
Tick size, the smallest step
The minimum amount by which the quoted price can change. It is not the same across commodities, and a small tick on a large multiple can still be a large number of rupees.
On the specification as: tick size, or minimum price fluctuation.
How to fill this in. If a contract covers one kilogram and is quoted per ten grams, one lot holds one hundred quotation units. If it covers thirty kilograms and is quoted per kilogram, it holds thirty. Both numbers are printed on the contract specification, which is why this page does not guess them for you.
One tick, on your position₹100.00
One tick, one lot₹100.00
Ten ticks, your position₹1,000.00
Your expected move, in rupees₹5,000.00
Same move against you₹-5,000.00
This is arithmetic on figures you supplied. It does not know the contract, the price or the margin, and it is not a quotation. Confirm the specification on the exchange website or inside the platform before you trade.
Mini and micro contracts are smaller, not safer. A mini contract has the same percentage volatility as the full-size one; it simply risks fewer rupees per tick. That makes it the right place to learn the segment and the wrong place to take ten times the number of lots. The whole purpose of working out a tick value before you trade is to size the position by the rupees at risk rather than by the number of lots that happen to fit inside your margin.
Expiry mechanics
The part that catches people out
An equity future simply cash settles. A commodity future may hand you thirty kilograms of silver. Which of the two happens depends on the contract you chose, and the calendar starts working against you well before expiry day.
Type one: compulsory physical delivery
Bullion, base metals and most agricultural contracts. There is no cash-settlement escape hatch. Any position still open when the tender period ends becomes an obligation to give or take the goods, at a designated warehouse, in the exact grade and quantity the contract specifies. Delivery moves through electronic warehouse receipts held in a commodity repository, not through your demat account, and warehousing, assaying, insurance, transport and local taxes are yours to pay.
If you are trading the price and not the metal: square off or roll before the tender period opens. Our platform flags a delivery-contract position as the pre-expiry margin window approaches, and the risk desk will call you.
Type two: cash settled
Crude oil, natural gas and the index-style contracts. Nothing physical changes hands. On expiry the position is closed against a final settlement price derived from the international benchmark and converted at a reference exchange rate, and the difference is credited or debited to your ledger. There is no warehouse, no assay and no delivery penalty.
What it does not remove: the price risk. An overnight move in the international benchmark still arrives in full, and the last days before expiry can be thin and jumpy.
Options are options on futures
A commodity option here is written on the futures contract rather than on the physical commodity, and it is European style, so exercise happens only at expiry. An in-the-money option devolves into a position in the underlying future, which then carries that future's margin and that future's delivery rules from the next day.
Consequence: buying a gold call can end with you holding a gold future, and a gold future ends in a warehouse.
How a delivery contract winds down
Indicative sequence for a compulsory-delivery contract. The exact dates for each commodity are in the contract specification and the exchange circulars, and they differ between commodities.
Normal tradingUntil the pre-expiry window
The contract trades like any other future. Margin is the ordinary requirement, marked to market every evening, and you can enter or exit freely.
Pre-expiry margin beginsSeveral days before expiry
The exchange starts adding an additional margin in stages, rising each day. A position that was comfortable can trigger a shortfall simply because the requirement went up. This is the single most common surprise in the segment, and it happens on a published schedule.
Tender period opensA few days before expiry
Sellers who intend to deliver mark their intention and buyers who want the goods mark theirs. Positions can still be squared off during this window, but from here the exchange is matching delivery obligations, and margin on a tendered position rises toward the full value of the goods.
Expiry and the due date rateExpiry day
Trading stops at the notified time. A due date rate, polled from the physical market, is fixed and used to settle. Every position still open is compulsorily assigned to delivery, and there is no cash-settlement option at this point.
Staggered delivery periodThe following days
Matched buyers pay in full and matched sellers move electronic warehouse receipts. The exchange runs this over a set number of days rather than all at once, and both sides are monitored for performance.
Completion, or penaltySettlement close
Delivery completes against payment. A party that fails to perform pays the penalty laid down by the exchange, which can exceed the price move that caused the problem in the first place.
Price drivers
Eight things that actually move these prices
An equity trader watches results and flows. A commodity trader watches inventories, weather, freight, duty and the rupee. These are the inputs, and most of them arrive on a published calendar.
The rupee
Gold, silver, crude and the base metals are priced internationally in dollars, so the rupee price is the dollar price multiplied by the exchange rate. A weaker rupee lifts the domestic price even when the commodity has not moved at all.
Affects: every imported commodity, continuously.
Real interest rates
Gold pays no coupon, so it competes with inflation-adjusted yields. When real yields fall, holding gold costs less and it tends to be bid; when they rise, the reverse. The data that moves them is American and lands in the Indian evening.
Affects: bullion, sharply, on data days.
Inventories
The weekly American crude and petroleum stocks report and the natural gas storage report are the two largest scheduled sources of volatility in energy. Both are published mid-week while our market is open, and the move is usually immediate.
Affects: crude oil and natural gas, weekly.
Supply policy
Production decisions by the major exporting group, sanctions, pipeline outages and shipping disruption all act on crude from the supply side. These are announcements rather than data, so they arrive without warning and gap the price.
Affects: crude oil, at meetings and without them.
Industrial demand
Copper, zinc, aluminium and nickel are inputs to construction, wiring, batteries and steel. Manufacturing surveys and Chinese activity set the tone, while exchange warehouse stocks show whether the metal is actually tight.
Affects: base metals, monthly and on stock reports.
Weather and the monsoon
Rainfall decides sowing, yield and arrivals for agricultural contracts, and a cold northern winter decides heating demand for natural gas. Weather is the one driver with no release calendar, only forecasts that keep changing.
Affects: agricultural contracts and natural gas, seasonally.
Duty and policy
Import duty on bullion, cesses, export restrictions and stock limits are set by the government and can change overnight. A duty change moves the domestic price without touching the international one, and it moves the whole curve at once.
Affects: bullion and agri, on notification.
Physical demand at home
India is among the largest buyers of gold and silver in the world, and that buying concentrates around the festive season and the wedding months. It shows up as a local premium or discount against the landed price, which is worth watching alongside the screen.
Affects: bullion, seasonally.
The money that must be there
How margin behaves in this segment
The mechanism is the same as in equity derivatives, with two additions that exist only here: an overnight gap the margin model cannot protect you from, and a pre-expiry ramp on every delivery contract.
Set by the clearing corporation, daily
The requirement is built from a risk-based component that simulates the portfolio under a range of price and volatility shocks, plus an additional exposure component. It is recalculated through the day and it is not something a broker can negotiate.
Where to read it: the platform shows the figure for your own basket before the order is sent.
Collected before the order
The full applicable margin must be available before the order reaches the exchange, and availability is checked at random snapshots through a session that runs to late evening. A shortfall at any snapshot attracts a penalty levied on us and passed on to you.
Practical effect: keep a buffer, and remember the session is long. A shortfall at 10 pm counts.
Marked to market every evening
Commodity futures are settled in cash daily against the day's settlement price, so a loss is debited that evening rather than when you exit. Your total loss may arrive in instalments, each of which has to be funded by the next morning.
Practical effect: a position can be sound and still need cash tomorrow.
It rises before expiry on delivery contracts
Because an open contract turns into a delivery obligation, the exchange adds a pre-expiry margin in stages over the final days. The requirement can double or more without the price moving at all, and the schedule is published in advance.
Practical effect: plan the exit before that window opens, not after the shortfall message arrives.
Margin does not cover the gap
The model is calibrated to price moves within a session. An international benchmark that trades after our close can open the next session far away, and the resulting loss is debited in full regardless of what margin was held.
Practical effect: size an overnight position for the gap, or do not carry it overnight.
Hedged positions need less
A recognised spread or a defined-risk option structure requires far less margin than its legs would separately, because the clearing corporation nets the risk. Send multi-leg structures as one basket so the benefit is applied before the order goes out.
Practical effect: the strongest mechanical argument for buying the protective leg rather than writing naked.
Margin rates, haircuts, the cash component requirement, pre-expiry margin stages and penalty rates are set by SEBI, the exchanges and the clearing corporations and are revised from time to time. This page describes how the mechanism works rather than its current settings.
What you pay, and to whom
Charges, and the one exemption worth knowing
Rates are set elsewhere and change. The structure does not, and neither does the fact that notified agricultural commodities are treated differently from everything else.
| Line on the contract note | Calculated on | Levied by | Where the current rate is published |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brokerage | Nothing. It is a flat amount per executed order. | Yukti | ₹20 per executed order |
| Commodities transaction tax | The sell side of non-agricultural futures, and the sell side of the premium on options. Notified agricultural commodities are exempt. | Government | Notified rate, in the Finance Act |
| Exchange transaction charge | Turnover, at rates that differ between the bullion, energy, base metal and agricultural groups. | MCX or MSEI | Exchange circular, revised periodically |
| SEBI turnover fee | Turnover. | SEBI | SEBI circular |
| Stamp duty | The buy side, at rates that differ between futures and options. | State | Uniform rates notified under the Stamp Act |
| Goods and services tax | Brokerage plus the transaction and regulatory charges, not the contract value. | Government | Prevailing GST rate |
| Delivery costs | Warehousing, assaying, insurance, transport and local taxes on a contract that goes to delivery. | Warehouse and exchange | At actuals |
| Margin shortfall penalty | The amount and duration of the shortfall. | Exchange | Exchange circular, passed on at actuals |
Statutory and exchange rates are set by the government, SEBI and the exchanges and are revised from time to time; the rate in force on your trade date applies. Which commodities are notified as agricultural for the transaction-tax exemption is itself set by notification. This page describes what each charge is applied to rather than quoting a rate that would go out of date. The published tariff sheet and your contract note are the authoritative record.
Work out the tick value before the order, not after the loss
The calculator above takes the three numbers off the contract specification and turns them into rupees per tick, which is the only figure that tells you how large a position really is. It costs nothing to use and it is the difference between sizing a trade and guessing at one.
At the end of the year
Commodity derivatives are taxed as business income
Not as capital gains, which changes the return you file, what you may deduct and whether an audit applies. Rates and thresholds change, so this describes the framework rather than the numbers.
Non-speculative business income
Gains and losses from commodity derivatives entered on a recognised exchange are generally treated as non-speculative business income, taxed at your slab rate rather than at a capital gains rate. That treatment is not the same as equity investing and not the same as intraday equity.
Look up: which return form applies to business income for the relevant year.
Turnover is not contract value
For tax purposes derivatives turnover is computed on a prescribed basis that uses the absolute profit and loss on each trade rather than the notional value of the contracts. Getting this wrong changes whether an audit is triggered, often by a very large margin.
Look up: the current prescribed method of computing derivatives turnover.
Expenses are deductible
Because it is business income, the costs of earning it can be claimed: brokerage, exchange and regulatory charges, data subscriptions and a reasonable share of internet and device costs. Keep the evidence, because the deduction is only as good as the record.
Practical effect: the contract notes and the annual statement are the starting point.
Losses carry forward, if you file on time
A non-speculative business loss can be set off against most other heads of income in the same year, except salary, and whatever remains is carried forward for a number of assessment years. The carry-forward is lost entirely if the return is filed after the due date.
Practical effect: file on time in a loss year. Especially in a loss year.
Advance tax and audit
Business income carries an obligation to pay tax in instalments through the year rather than at the end, and an audit requirement applies above a prescribed turnover or where profit is declared below a prescribed rate. Both thresholds change.
Look up: the current advance tax dates and the audit threshold for the relevant year.
We do not give tax advice
Whether your activity is a business, which form applies, how turnover is computed for you and whether physical delivery changes the position all depend on facts we cannot see. We are a stock broker, not a tax adviser.
Practical effect: engage a chartered accountant in your first year, not your third.
Why your order was stopped
The controls specific to commodities
Six mechanisms, all published by the exchange in advance, and all of which will eventually touch a position you hold.
Daily price limits
Each commodity has a band beyond which the price cannot move in a day, widened in stages if the move persists. A limit move can leave you unable to exit at any price for a period, which is precisely when you most want to.
What you see: orders rejected as outside the permitted range, and no counterparty on one side.
Position limits
The exchange sets a client-level and a member-level ceiling on open interest for every commodity, and these tighten near expiry. Breaching a limit invites a penalty and a forced reduction.
What you see: an order refused because it would take you past the permitted position.
Tender period and delivery
Once the tender period opens, the exchange is matching delivery obligations rather than simply hosting a market. Margins on a tendered position rise toward the full value of the goods, and failure to perform carries a penalty.
What you see: a margin requirement that no longer resembles the one you planned for.
Grades, warehouses and delivery units
Delivery happens only at exchange-designated warehouses, only in the specified grade and purity, and only in the specified delivery lot. Bullion must be of a stated fineness from an approved refiner; base metals of a stated brand and shape.
What this means: physical delivery is a business, not a trade you drift into.
Regulatory suspension of contracts
Trading in particular agricultural commodities has been suspended and later reintroduced by regulatory direction, usually on food-price grounds. A contract you were trading can stop being available, and existing positions are handled under the terms of the direction.
What you see: a contract that existed last season no longer listed.
Eligibility and suitability
The commodity derivatives segment is enabled separately and requires income proof and acceptance of the Risk Disclosure Document, because it is leveraged and because some contracts carry a delivery obligation.
What you see: the segment is not live on your account until the documents are verified.
Limits, bands, tender periods, delivery specifications and penalty rates are notified by SEBI and the exchanges and are revised from time to time. This page describes how the mechanisms work rather than their current settings, which should be read from the circular in force on the day.
Plain definitions
The commodity glossary
Every term you will meet on a contract specification, an order pad or a delivery notice, defined in one or two sentences. Type to search, or jump by letter.
All 55 terms.
A market in which the near contract trades above the far one, usually a sign of immediate physical tightness.
The industrial metals: copper, zinc, aluminium, lead and nickel. They move on factory demand rather than on sentiment.
The difference between the futures price and the spot price of the same commodity. It narrows toward expiry.
Gold and silver traded as an investment or industrial asset rather than as jewellery.
A contract closed at expiry by paying the difference in money, with nothing physical delivered. Crude oil and natural gas settle this way.
The entity that steps between buyer and seller after a trade, guarantees settlement, sets margin and runs the delivery process.
A tax on the sell side of non-agricultural commodity futures, and on the sell side of option premium. Notified agricultural commodities are exempt.
A contract that must end in physical delivery, with no cash-settlement option at expiry. Bullion and base metals work this way.
A market in which the far contract trades above the near one, which is the normal state when storage and financing cost money.
The exchange document setting out the trading unit, quotation, tick size, delivery unit, grade, expiry and delivery centres. Read it before the first order.
The city or warehouse at which delivery against a contract may be made or taken. A contract can have several, sometimes at different premiums.
The quantity in which delivery is actually made, which is not always the same as the trading unit.
An in-the-money option turning into a position in the underlying futures contract at expiry, which then carries that contract's margin and delivery rules.
The price polled from the physical market and used to settle a delivery contract at expiry. It is not simply the last traded price.
The dematerialised document evidencing goods held in an approved warehouse. Delivery moves these receipts in a commodity repository, not shares in a demat account.
An option that can be exercised only at expiry. Commodity options listed here are European and are written on the futures contract.
An additional margin collected on top of the risk-based component, to cover risks the model does not capture.
The price at which all open positions in an expiring contract are settled, computed by the exchange on a published basis.
The purity, brand, shape or quality the contract requires. Delivering something outside the grade is not delivery at all.
A participant using a contract to fix a price for goods they produce, consume or hold. These markets exist for hedgers; speculators provide the liquidity.
The rupee price implied by the international price converted at the exchange rate plus duty and levies. It explains why the domestic price can fall when the international one rises.
The collateral required to open and hold a position, calculated by the clearing corporation and collected before the order is sent.
Holding a bought position. It obliges you to take delivery on a delivery contract carried to expiry.
The daily cash settlement of futures against the day's settlement price, so profit is credited and loss debited every evening.
The Multi Commodity Exchange, on which most Indian commodity derivatives trade. We are a member.
A smaller version of a standard contract, with a smaller lot and therefore fewer rupees per tick. Smaller, not safer: the percentage volatility is identical.
The Metropolitan Stock Exchange of India, on which we are also a member.
The number of contracts currently outstanding. Rising open interest alongside a rising price suggests new positions rather than closing ones.
A commodity option is written on the futures contract rather than on the physical commodity, which is why exercise produces a futures position.
Settling by delivering or receiving the goods themselves, through approved warehouses and in the specified grade.
The maximum open interest a single client or member may hold in a commodity. Limits tighten as expiry approaches.
An additional margin added in stages over the final days on delivery contracts. The most common source of an unexpected shortfall in this segment.
The gap between the local physical price and the landed or futures price, which reflects immediate domestic supply and demand.
The unit the price on the screen refers to: per ten grams, per kilogram, per barrel, per mmBtu. It is not the lot.
The institution holding electronic warehouse receipts, performing for commodities the role a depository performs for securities.
Closing a position in the expiring contract and opening the same position in the next one, to carry a view past expiry. The price difference between the two is a real cost.
The price fixed by the exchange each day for marking positions to market, and at expiry for final settlement.
Holding a sold position. It obliges you to make delivery on a delivery contract carried to expiry.
A charge levied by the exchange when margin available falls below the requirement at a snapshot, passed on to the client at actuals.
The risk-based component of the initial margin, calculated by simulating the portfolio under a range of price and volatility shocks.
A participant taking price risk with no underlying physical exposure. Their presence is what allows a hedger to find a counterparty.
The price for immediate delivery of the physical commodity, as distinct from the futures price for a future date.
Holding one contract month against another in the same commodity, so the outright price largely cancels and what remains is the basis. It attracts a lower margin.
The window over which matched deliveries are completed after expiry, rather than all at once on a single day.
The window before expiry in which sellers mark their intention to deliver and buyers mark their intention to take delivery. Margins rise sharply once it opens.
The smallest amount by which the quoted price can change. It differs by commodity and says nothing on its own about rupees at risk.
The tick size multiplied by the number of quotation units in a lot. This is the number that tells you how large a position really is.
How much of the commodity one contract covers: a kilogram, thirty kilograms, a hundred barrels, five tonnes. Also called the lot size.
The physical commodity, or the benchmark, from which the contract takes its value.
An exchange-designated facility at which goods against a contract are stored and from which delivery is made. Storage and insurance are chargeable.
The cost of keeping goods in an approved warehouse, borne by the party holding the receipt. One of several costs that make physical delivery a business.
The limit beyond which a commodity's price cannot move in a day, widened in stages if the move persists. A limit move can leave you unable to exit.
The evening session closes later while the United States is on daylight saving time, so that the Indian market stays aligned with the American session.
The single identifier under which your equity, derivatives and commodity activity all sit, with one ledger and one set of reports.
Questions
Commonly asked about commodities
01Do I need a separate account for commodities?
No. The commodity segment is activated on the same client code as your equity account, with one ledger, one set of funds and one set of reports. Activation needs income proof and your acceptance of the Risk Disclosure Document, because it is a leveraged segment and some contracts carry a delivery obligation.
02Will I actually be given physical gold or silver?
Only if you carry the position into the tender period of a compulsory-delivery contract. Square off or roll before then and nothing physical happens. Our platform flags a delivery-contract position as the pre-expiry margin window opens and the risk desk contacts you. If you genuinely want delivery, tell us in advance so the warehouse and payment side can be arranged.
03Why is the same rupee move worth so much more on one contract?
Because the lot size, the quotation unit and the tick size differ for every commodity. A contract quoted per ten grams with a one kilogram lot holds a hundred quotation units; one quoted per kilogram with a five tonne lot holds five thousand. The calculator on this page turns those three numbers into rupees per tick, which is the only figure that tells you how large the position really is.
04Why did the domestic price fall when the international price rose?
Almost always the rupee, and sometimes duty. The domestic price is the international price converted at the exchange rate plus the levies that apply on import. If the rupee strengthened more than the commodity rose, the rupee price can fall on a day when the dollar price gained. Two variables move the screen, not one.
05Why has my margin gone up without me doing anything?
Three common causes. Volatility rose, so the risk-based component increased. Your contract entered the pre-expiry window, where the requirement is raised in stages on a published schedule. Or the clearing corporation revised rates intraday. None of these is a broker decision.
06Can I trade commodities intraday with extra leverage?
No. Regulation requires the full upfront margin for derivatives positions, intraday included, so there is no additional intraday leverage here. What trading intraday does save you is the pre-expiry and delivery machinery, and the overnight gap, both of which are substantial.
07Are commodity options the same as equity options?
The pricing logic is the same, but two things differ. The underlying is the commodity futures contract rather than the commodity itself, and they are European style, so exercise happens only at expiry. An in-the-money option devolves into a futures position, which then carries that future's margin and delivery rules.
08What is the smallest commodity position I can take?
Whatever the smallest listed contract in that commodity is. Several popular commodities have mini and micro versions with a fraction of the standard lot, which is the sensible place to learn the segment. Remember that a mini contract has the same percentage volatility as the full one; it simply risks fewer rupees per tick.
09Does this page show live commodity prices?
Deliberately not. Everything here is reference material that stays correct from one contract to the next: mechanics, definitions, delivery procedure and the arithmetic of a tick. Live prices, depth and your own positions are inside the trading platform, where they belong and where they carry the right disclaimers.
10Do you tell me what to trade?
No. We are a stock broker, not an investment adviser, and nothing on this page is a recommendation. We provide execution, custody, reporting and education. If you want personal advice, use a SEBI-registered investment adviser and verify the registration number yourself on the SEBI website.