Mumbai: Metropolitan Stock Exchange of India (MSEI) Ltd in a circular on Tuesday that it will extend trading hours to 5pm with effect from Friday, in an apparent effort to garner market share from larger peers BSE Ltd and the National Stock Exchange (NSE).
Trading on the exchange currently closes at 3.30pm.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) had permitted stock exchanges to set trading hours in the equity and derivatives segments between 9am and 5pm in a circular on 23 October 2009.
MSEI, formerly known as MCX-SX, has an insignificant market share in these segments when compared to BSE and NSE.
Udai Kumar, managing director and chief executive of MSEI, could not be reached for comment.
It remains to be seen whether the bourse’s larger peers will follow suit and how brokerages will react to the development.
An email sent to BSE remained unanswered. NSE declined to comment. Brokerages were of the opinion that the two dominant exchanges may not react immediately.
“MSEI is having very low volumes,” said Deena Mehta, managing director of Asit C. Mehta Investment Intermediates Ltd.
“I don’t think they (BSE and NSE) would take so much cognizance of the fact that MSEI has extended timings,” Mehta said, adding that the current timings were long enough, and any extension would mean more pressure on the brokerages.
“In the past, we have seen that extending timings does not really boost volumes. I don’t think the other exchanges will act on this,” said Deven Choksey, group managing director at KR Choksey Investment Managers Pvt. Ltd.
Catch all the Business News, Market News, Breaking News Events and Latest News Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates.
MoreLess