Sensex Trading Journal: BSE Contract and Cost Records

A Sensex trading journal records the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) contract you actually traded: option or future, expiry, strike and call/put where relevant, lots, units, actual executed prices and costs. Keep the entry reason and any changed exit rule beside the numbers. Separate your Sensex and NSE contract labels so an entry does not inherit another index's lot-size or expiry assumptions.

Check the contract rather than a remembered weekday

BSE notice 20241021-13, dated 21 October 2024, revised the Sensex lot to 20 units through a staged contract transition. Check the series and trade date, particularly for an older position. A smaller unit count alone does not establish a smaller cash requirement or lower risk.

BSE notice 20250623-59, dated 23 June 2025, moved the cycle for contracts expiring after the start of September 2025 to Thursday: weekly Sensex options on Thursday, monthly and long-dated contracts on the last Thursday. Dates remain subject to declared holidays. That notice also ended weekly Sensex futures after 12 August 2025. The exact expiry on your contract is the date to record.

Sensex and Nifty Contracts Side by Side

A common journal error is to copy a Nifty habit into a Sensex trade. The two indices trade on different exchanges with different units and fees. The table lists what the repo's verified lot file and Zerodha's charges page show as of 28 Oct 2026.

Because the lot sizes differ, equal lot counts do not mean equal exposure. Journal the units, not just the lots, and compare trades by rupees at risk.

How Sensex Expiry Works for Your Records

Reports checked on 28 Oct 2026 say BSE moved Sensex weekly expiry to Thursday for contracts expiring from 1 September 2025, with monthly contracts on the last Thursday. If Thursday is a trading holiday, the expiry moves to a nearby trading day, so the standing weekday rule and the actual date can differ. In your journal, write the actual expiry date from your contract note, not the weekday you expected.

• Weekly Sensex options: usually Thursday.
• Monthly Sensex options: usually the last Thursday of the month.
• Bankex and Sensex 50: monthly contracts only in this site's expiry rules.
• Holiday weeks: record the date the exchange actually used.

The Sensex expiry day is also when many beginners over-trade. The expiry day trading guide lists what to record on those days.

What belongs in each Sensex entry

• Write BSE and the full instrument name; distinguish an option from a future.
• For an option, retain strike, call/put, expiry, direction and premium filled.
• Keep lots distinct from total units and retain individual fills when scaling a position.
• Record all round-trip costs and keep the broker's contract note for comparison.
• Add setup, stop, target and whether your exit followed the original rule.

The options checklist covers leg details; the futures entry guide keeps the contract month identifiable.

Fields That Matter More on Sensex Expiry Days

• Time to expiry in hours when you entered, since premiums can move fast near the end.
• Whether you planned to hold to expiry or exit earlier.
• What you did with an option that was still open near the close.
• Whether you traded because of a move in another index, and why.
• The bid-ask gap you saw when you entered, if you noticed it.

OneTradeJournal does not read these from the market. You type your own notes beside the trade, and the manual trade record keeps strategy, emotions, mistakes, stop, target and plan deviation together.

Worked Sensex option record

Made-up example: using a 20-unit lot, buy an option at ₹230 premium and sell it at ₹260 before expiry. Gross profit = (₹260 - ₹230) × 20 = ₹600. Assume ₹85 complete trade costs, giving ₹600 - ₹85 = ₹515 net profit. These premiums and costs are invented. Confirm the actual contract's unit size before using this calculation for your trade.

Add a note such as 'planned entry; exit rule followed'. If you changed the stop because of a move in another index, keep the time and reason in the note. A later profitable exit does not establish that the change improved your process.

The Same Trade With a Full Charge Estimate

The example above uses an assumed ₹85 for costs. Here is the same trade with the rates on Zerodha's charges page, opened on 28 Oct 2026. Brokerage is a flat ₹20 per executed options order there; other brokers charge differently, so your own contract note decides.

Gross profit was ₹600, so the net result is ₹600 − ₹58.91 = ₹541.09. A smaller gain would be squeezed harder, because brokerage is fixed per order. Check the exact charges against your contract note, which can differ by a few paise because of rounding.

A Losing Sensex Trade Needs the Same Detail

Made-up example: you buy at ₹230 and sell at ₹200 with the same 20 units. The price loss is (₹230 − ₹200) × 20 = ₹600. Costs are still charged on the way out, so the loss after costs is larger than ₹600. Record the loss with the reason for the exit, such as the stop you set before entry, or a later change of mind. Keeping the losing trade as detailed as the winner is what makes a later review honest.

Compare similar BSE and NSE trades

Use each trade's own quantity and costs, and compare similar strategies and holding periods. Keep option buying separate from selling. A small profitable group of Sensex entries does not prove which index will suit future trades. The Nifty journal guide has a separate contract reference.

OneTradeJournal records these decisions through manual entries, strategy, emotions and notes. Its reports include strategy analysis and drawdown (fall from a previous peak). Charges are estimates to reconcile with broker records; no automatic cross-index correlation or spread finder is claimed. The journal review routine helps turn a recorded decision into a specific question.

A Simple Sensex Review Table

After a few weeks, build one table and answer one question at a time. The columns below work in a spreadsheet or a journal report.

For the Nifty side, see the Nifty trading journal; for the index comparison itself, see Nifty vs Sensex. For how to run the review, use how to review your trades.

Common Sensex Journal Mistakes

• Using the old 10-unit idea of a lot for current contracts.
• Calculating profit from index points when you traded an option premium.
• Leaving out stamp duty, SEBI fees and GST because they look tiny.
• Recording the expected expiry weekday instead of the actual date.
• Mixing Sensex and Nifty trades in one group without noting the unit difference.
• Writing a lesson from a single lucky or unlucky expiry day.

Sources

• BSE lot revision, checked 15 Oct 2026.
• BSE expiry and weekly-futures notice, checked 15 Oct 2026.
• OneTradeJournal official product information, checked 15 Oct 2026.