Combined OI tells you which side is writing overall. The option chain gives you a snapshot of every strike. Multistrike OI fills the gap between those two views by showing how positioning builds and unwinds at the specific strikes you care about, minute by minute through the session.
What is Multistrike OI?
Open interest at a strike is the number of contracts live at that strike. Multistrike OI, also written as multi strike open interest, lets you select several strikes in any mix of calls and puts and plots each one's OI as a separate line through the day, with the underlying's price overlaid on its own axis.
That structure answers a question totals cannot. Aggregated OI can look stable while the action rotates between strikes. A strike wise view shows which level writers are defending, which they are abandoning, and when.
How to read it: writers show their hand strike by strike
The reading rules are the same as elsewhere in the OI toolkit, only sharper because they are strike specific. As an analytical observation:
- Rising Call OI at a strike reflects call writing, meaning sellers positioning against upside beyond that level. A bearish footprint.
- Rising Put OI at a strike reflects put writing, meaning confidence the market holds above that level. A bullish footprint.
- Falling OI at a strike means those positions are being unwound and the writers are stepping away.
Two patterns worth watching
Crossovers. When one strike's OI line overtakes another's, and particularly when a CE line crosses above the PE line at the same strike, it marks a shift in which side dominates that level. Crossovers in the direction of the prevailing price trend strengthen the case for continuation.
Sudden OI buildups and unwinds. A sharp jump or drop in OI at a strike often appears before the price move completes, because large writers position first and price adjusts afterwards. Identifying that positioning early is what the widget is built for.
The Multistrike OI cheat sheet
| What you see | What it suggests, analytically |
|---|---|
| Put OI building at a strike below price | Support being defended, put writers backing the level |
| Call OI building at a strike above price | Resistance forming, call writers capping the level |
| Put OI unwinding at the support strike | Defenders retreating, support weakening |
| Call OI surging near the market with put unwinding | Breakdown footprint, the level may give way |
| CE line crossing above PE line at the same strike | Dominance shift, bearish weight at that level |
| Sudden OI jump at one strike while price is quiet | Early positioning, watch that level closely |
Using the Multistrike OI widget on IBT-ProTrade
Switch instruments with one tap across the major indices, or use Search Scrips for stock F&O. Tap ADD to open the strike selector, a compact chain showing live CE and PE premiums with the ATM strike highlighted, and tick the strikes you want in any mix of calls and puts. Each selection gets its own colour, with the underlying plotted as a dashed line on the right axis. Set the Duration, down to one minute granularity, hover for the exact OI of every strike at any timestamp, and switch between Chart and Table views when you need precise figures.
A three step routine
Step 1. From the option chain, identify the strikes that matter: the largest Put OI wall below price, the largest Call OI wall above it, and the ATM strike. Load them into Multistrike OI.
Step 2. Watch the slopes. Lines building in the direction of the prevailing structure confirm it. A dominant line rolling over is your early warning.
Step 3. Before treating any support or resistance as reliable, check the footprint. A level backed by building writer OI is credible. A level where writers are unwinding is on borrowed time.
Go deeper. Multistrike OI shows how positioning evolves at your chosen strikes. The Option Chain gives the full strike by strike snapshot with premiums and Greeks, Open Interest maps the largest walls, Combined OI delivers the market wide verdict, and Max Pain distils it into one expiry level. Together they form a complete OI toolkit on IBT-ProTrade.
