MUMBAI (Reuters) - India's National Stock Exchange (NSE) and Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) are in talks to merge ahead of the implementation of a universal exchange framework in October, the Business Standard newspaper reported on Friday.
NSE and MCX, the country's top stock and commodities exchanges, respectively, plan to approach the markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) as early as this month, the paper said, citing an unnamed official.
MCX shares jumped as much as 8 percent in morning trade before trimming the gains to trade 4 percent higher as of 0449 GMT.
The newspaper said an NSE spokesperson declined to comment. MCX and NSE did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.
NSE approached MCX for a merger after SEBI allowed exchanges offer trading platform for both equities and commodities derivatives, the newspaper said.
(Writing by Rajendra Jadhav; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)