The combined call and put premium makes the straddle
This chart plots the live at-the-money straddle on MCX Natural Gas options: the combined premium of the ATM Call and ATM Put at the same strike and expiry, sampled through the commodity session. Natural gas is the most volatile contract on this site, and its straddle is priced accordingly.
The MCX session runs to roughly 23:30 IST, so the chart stays live through the entire US trading day — which matters more for gas than for any other symbol here, because its calendar is almost entirely American.
Natural gas is famous for violent, weather-driven moves. Demand swings with heating and cooling seasons, supply reacts slowly, and storage is the only buffer between them — so a hot forecast revision or a cold snap can move the contract several percent in a session. Options writers know this, and the straddle premium is persistently rich relative to the other commodities.
The MCX contract tracks the US benchmark, so its volatility calendar is American: the weekly EIA storage report, seasonal transitions in and out of winter, and hurricane risk in the producing regions. The straddle chart visibly inflates ahead of the storage print and reprices sharply on the release.
Rupee quotation adds the same currency layer as the metals: USD/INR moves can reprice the MCX straddle even when the US benchmark is flat, though for gas the underlying commodity is nearly always the louder input.
Falling premium is theta decay through a quiet stretch; rising premium is the market paying up for movement. With gas, the switches between the two states are faster and larger than on any equity index — a line that was decaying normally at 19:00 IST can be repricing violently by 20:05 after the storage number.
Event timing matters more than on any other chart here. The weekly storage report lands during Indian evening hours, and the sessions around seasonal forecast changes carry premium that refuses to decay. When the line is flat where decay should be, the market is waiting for something.
Watch the line against the plotted gas future. Premium expanding while the future is flat is genuine volatility anticipation; premium expanding while the future is already running is mostly gamma repricing and tends to give back once the move exhausts.
MCX Natural Gas options are options on the gas futures contract, so the chart's reference level is the traded future rather than a spot index.
The contract is quoted in rupees per mmBtu with options on a ₹5 strike grid. The tight grid against a fast underlying means the ATM strike rolls frequently — the chart follows each roll rather than pinning to a stale strike, so expect the underlying contract pair to change often on a moving day.
MCX also lists a MINI gas contract. This chart tracks the main NATURALGAS contract, which carries the best at-the-money quotes.
No. It is an options chart showing the combined premium of the at-the-money MCX Natural Gas Call and Put. The traded gas future is plotted alongside for reference.
The MCX commodity session, roughly 09:00 to 23:30 IST — which spans the US hours where nearly all gas catalysts land.
Gas is structurally the most volatile contract here: weather-driven demand, slow-moving supply and a weekly storage report give it repeated large repricings, and option writers charge for that.
A weekly US report on gas in storage, released during Indian evening hours. It is the single most regular volatility event for this contract, and the straddle visibly inflates before it and reprices on the release.
A ₹5 strike grid against a quote in rupees per mmBtu, so the ATM strike rolls frequently on a moving day.
The main MCX NATURALGAS contract, quoted in rupees per mmBtu, which carries the best at-the-money quotes. MCX also lists a MINI gas contract.