The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) today said it would introduce futures and options (F&O) contracts on 135 additional stocks after the August expiry, following approval from the market regulator.
After the introduction of derivatives on these additional stocks, F&O on stocks currently eligible on all stock exchanges will be available for trading on BSE, the exchange said. All these contracts will be settled through physical delivery, introduced by BSE earlier this year.
“As of today, we are introducing 135 additional eligible scrips to our existing list of 84 scrips in BSE equity derivatives segment, having expiry in August 2011 and onwards,” said Madhu Kannan, MD & CEO. “With recent positive developments designed to augment trading in the F&O segment, we are working towards making BSE market-ready for increased participation in our equity derivatives business.”
BSE’s latest step comes after the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) last week allowed stock exchanges to implement Liquidity Enhancement Schemes for equity derivatives. “Along with other innovations such as smart order routing, these initiatives will provide a fillip to BSE’s F&O segment,” the exchange said.
In the last two years, Asia’s oldest stock exchange has taken several steps such as changing the expiry schedule for stock and index derivatives, slashing membership fee and introducing delivery-based settlement to infuse life in its derivatives segment. However, despite these efforts, activity in BSE’s derivatives segment has been negligible.