ICICIdirect - How to trade,buy & sell, options?

Published on Friday, August 31, 2018 by Chittorgarh.com Team | Modified on Friday, August 13, 2021

ICICIdirect offers trading services in equity, index and currency options. If you have a trading account with ICICIdirect and a demat account with ICICIdirect or any of the registered depositories in India then you can buy and sell equity, commodity, and currency options.

This article aims to answer frequently asked questions by new Option traders like:

How to buy options in ICICIdirect?
How to add funds to the ICICIdirect account?

Platforms To Trade Options In ICICIdirect

ICICIdirect offers 3 platforms to buy and sell Options:

ICICIdirect Web
A free web trading platform.
ICICIdirect Trade Racer
A free installable trading platform.
ICICIdirect Mobile App
A free mobile trading application.

How To Buy Options in ICICIdirect?

Steps to buy/sell Options in ICICIdirect

Visit ICICIdirect website and log in using the ID/password given in the mail.
Add Funds to your account
Add Option contracts to My Favourites
Place a Buy order for the Option
Check for the execution of the order

Now let's discuss each of these steps of buying a Call/Put option in detail-

1. Visit ICICIdirect website and log in using the ID/password

Open web browser in your laptop or desktop and enter www.icicidirect.com. On the right side of your screen on the top menu, click on the Login button. You will be taken to this page-

In the page, enter your login id, password, Date of Birth or PAN number. Select F&O (Futures & Options) from the drop-down menu and click on 'Login Now' button. You will be taken to the F&O dashboard-

2. Add Funds to your account

The next step is to add funds to your account. Please remember that as per SEBI regulations, you need to keep separate funds in Equity and Commodities. The funds available in Equity can only be used to trade Stocks, Equity Futures & Options, and Currency. So, if you already have sufficient funds in your Equity balance to trade then you can skip this step.

ICICIdirect offers you a 3-in-1 trading account which means you also have a bank account opened along with a demat and trading account. This facilitates a direct and real-time transfer of funds from your ICICI bank account to your ICICIdirect trading account.

To add funds to your account, you need to:

Move your mouse to the menu available on left side of your screen and click on 'Allocate Funds/Limit'. You will be taken to this page:
Enter the amount you want to add to your account and click on the 'Submit' button.

Note: You can modify or deallocate funds, as per your trading requirements, from this page.

3. Add Option contracts to My Favourites

Before you buy a Call/Put Option contract, you need to search and add the desired contract into your 'My Favourites' page. Click on the 'My Favourites' tab available in the menu on left side of your screen.

Then select the exchange from which you want to buy a Call/Put Option contract. Now click on the 'Add To My Favourites' link on the page. You will be taken to this page:

On this page, first, click on the Options tab (marked in red) and enter the first few characters of the Contract name. Based on the characters you enter, you will start getting names of contract. Keep typing the name till the desired Option contract appears. Select the desired contract. Now select the exchange. And then select the Option type- Call or Put. click on 'Select Contract'. A list of Options contracts will appear-

ICICIdirect Select Options To MyFavourites

The list comprises all available contracts for your desired Option with different expiry dates and strike prices. Tick the box adjacent to the Option contract you are interested in trading and click on 'Add to My Favourites'. Click 'Ok' on the next button.

4. Place a Buy order for the Option

Now that you have added desired option contracts to your 'My Favorites' page, you are ready to place a buy Call/Put option order. Click on 'Buy' in the 'Action' column adjacent to the contract you wish to buy/sell. You will be taken to the next page-

In the place order page, you will find details like Exchange, Option Type, Stock Code etc., of the chosen Options contract auto-populated. You can also view the limit in your account. To know more on the pricing of the contract, you can click on 'Get Quote' or get data on best 5 bids by clicking 'Best 5 Bids/Offers'.

Go back to the Order Page and Enter quantity.
Now select the 'Order Validity'. Here you have 2 choices- Day or IOC. A day order can be executed anytime on the day whereas IOC (immediate or cancel) is executed immediately or gets canceled.
Next, select the 'Order Type'. Here you have 2 choices- Market or Limit. A Limit order is used to place orders at a predetermined price whereas a Market order is used to place orders at the best available price.
If you choose Limit Order then enter your price in the 'Limit Price' box and Click on 'Submit'.

You will see a margin calculator next to the 'Limit Price' box. This is useful when you are selling an Options contract and we will come to it later.

You will be taken to the order verification page. It is a good practice to check all the details of your trade before confirming the order. If you want to modify your order then click on 'Back' else click on 'Proceed'.

Your order is placed on the exchange. Most beginners to Options trading commit a mistake that successful placing of an order means the order is executed. But it doesn't always happen. Many times, there are no sellers available for the price you quoted and hence the order remains not executed.

5. Check for the execution of the order

To check the status of your order, click on the 'OrderBook/TradeBook' tab on the menu available on the left of the screen. You will be taken to the order book page