MCX Trading
AlgoTest supports ten commodities from MCX (Multi Commodity Exchange of India), including Crude Oil, Gold, Silver, and Natural Gas. You can backtest, forward test, and algo trade them with the same tools you use for NSE and BSE indices.
What you can do
| Product | MCX support |
|---|---|
| Backtest (920 Straddle) and Portfolio backtest | Yes, all ten commodities. See Backtest MCX Strategies. |
| Forward Test | Yes. See Forward Test MCX Strategies. |
| Algo Trade (live) | Yes, through Zerodha. More brokers are coming soon. See Algo Trade MCX Strategies. |
| Signals Classic (TradingView, Chartink, Custom Scripts and others) | Yes, through a 920 Simple strategy. See Signals for MCX. |
| ClickTrade (Strategy Builder) | Yes, from the MCX tab. See ClickTrade for MCX. |
| Signals AI | Not yet. |
| Margin Calculator, CAS Trading Terminal, Daily Straddle Heatmap, Daily Trades Analysis | No. These tools cover NSE and BSE only. |
Supported commodities
| Commodity | Big contract | Mini contract | Options |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crude Oil | CRUDEOIL | CRUDEOILM | Yes |
| Gold | GOLD | GOLDM | Yes |
| Silver | SILVER | SILVERM | Yes |
| Natural Gas | NATURALGAS | NATGASMINI | Yes |
| Gold Petal (1 g) | — | GOLDPETAL | No, futures only |
| Gold Ten (10 g) | — | GOLDTEN | No, futures only |
For lot sizes, expiries, and how MCX contracts differ from index contracts, see MCX Instruments.
The MCX plan
Every MCX feature on AlgoTest needs the MCX add-on, which costs ₹2,000 for 1 month. Without it, you can't backtest, save, forward test, or trade an MCX strategy, and you can't view MCX option chains.
The MCX add-on works alongside the plan each product already needs. It doesn't replace it.
| To use MCX in… | You need |
|---|---|
| Backtest | MCX add-on + backtest quota. Each MCX backtest uses one backtest. |
| ClickTrade (Strategy Builder) | MCX add-on + ClickTrade plan |
| Forward Test | MCX add-on + a paper execution plan (bought with credits) |
| Algo Trade | MCX add-on + a connected Zerodha account |
Without the add-on, MCX commodities still appear in the instrument lists. When you try to backtest, save, or add a position, you see the MCX Plan upsell instead.
If your MCX plan expires, the MCX strategies and signals you saved stay in your account. You need an active plan again to backtest or run them.
Trading hours
The MCX session on AlgoTest runs from 9:00 AM to 11:30 PM IST, Monday to Friday, all year. NSE opens at 9:15 AM; MCX opens 15 minutes earlier and keeps trading long after the equity market closes at 3:30 PM.
| Event | Time (IST) |
|---|---|
| Market open | 9:00 AM |
| Market close | 11:30 PM |
| Entry and exit times allowed | Anywhere from 9:00 AM to 11:30 PM |
For NSE strategies, entry and exit times can't fall between 5:30 PM and 6:30 PM. That block doesn't apply to MCX, so evening entries such as 6:00 PM or 9:00 PM are fine.
Before you start
- Buy the MCX add-on from the plans page.
- For live trading, make sure the commodity segment is active on your Zerodha account, then connect Zerodha from Broker Setup.
- Pick an MCX commodity as the instrument when you build your strategy.
Many brokers keep the commodity segment switched off by default. If it isn't active, Zerodha rejects your MCX orders even though the strategy deploys on AlgoTest.
Explore MCX trading
- MCX Instruments
- Backtest MCX Strategies
- Forward Test MCX Strategies
- Algo Trade MCX Strategies
- Auto Activation for MCX
- Signals for MCX
- ClickTrade for MCX
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