Combined PCR Dashboard: Compare Indices and Stock Baskets

Combined PCR puts several option-chain readings into one comparison workspace. It is useful for asking whether a selected index and the displayed basket describe similar put/call activity. It is different from a broad stock screener: the basket is defined by the dashboard rather than being every F&O stock.

What belongs to the basket

The dashboard includes Sensex, Nifty and Bank Nifty alongside a selected group of stock-option chains. Use the basket selector to distinguish indices, stocks or the combined view. Check the component table; the result is only about the instruments actually included.

The comparison instrument and metric also matter. OI PCR, OI-change PCR and volume PCR compare different inputs, so changing the metric changes the question. An aggregate need not equal the simple arithmetic average of component ratios.

Screenshot: aggregate, benchmark and components

Combined PCR basket chart, Nifty relative comparison and component table — Archived product screenshot. The pictured basket and readings describe that historical example rather than a current market state.

Compare a basket with an index

Choose the basket: indices, the selected stocks or their combined view.
Select OI PCR, OI-change PCR or volume PCR and keep it fixed for the comparison.
Choose the benchmark instrument and expiry setting. Read the series labels and the observation time.
Compare the two lines through the session, then inspect component rows rather than assigning a cause from the aggregate alone.
Open an individual instrument in the session PCR chart when it contributes a large divergence.

Worked example: aggregate versus simple average

Suppose one component has put OI 100 and call OI 100, and another has put OI 900 and call OI 300. Their ratios are 1 and 3. The simple average is 2, but the ratio of combined OI totals is 1,000 ÷ 400 = 2.5. Different aggregation methods answer different questions.

This arithmetic example illustrates why checking methodology and component weights matters; it is not a claim that every dashboard mode uses this exact aggregation.

Read breadth and divergence carefully

Basket composition, contract sizes, expiry distance and denominator size can concentrate the result in a few instruments. A divergence does not establish broad-market direction. Use the component table and matching data times before treating two ratios as directly comparable.

Combined PCR: frequently asked questions

01Is Combined PCR the same as a stock PCR screener?

No. Combined PCR compares a defined basket and benchmark. The stock screener filters and ranks available individual stock readings.

02Why is an aggregate not the average of the ratios?

A ratio of summed inputs weights components differently from an arithmetic average of their separate ratios. Check which method the displayed measure uses.