 "NSE, Stock market")
The National Stock Exchange (NSE) of India Ltd, India's largest stock exchange, is looking at extending trade timings in a phased manner in consultation with its broker members, Mint reported on Monday.
At the present moment, the regular trade timing session on NSE and BSE operates from 9:15 am to 3:30 pm for stocks,
Ashish Kumar Chauhan, managing director and chief executive, NSE, stated that the proposed move must be okayed by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) and could be extended to derivatives contracts.
After reporting the first quarter earnings on Friday, Chauhan said NSE has begun the consultation with broker members on how to increase trade timings "in a more convenient way for office-goers in the evening." "...if their approval comes, we will be able to slowly expand the timing for some of the derivatives contracts at most," Chauhan added.
Commodity derivatives trading happens from 9:00 am to 11:30 pm and to 11:55 pm (winters) because many commodities are mirror contracts of those traded on the US CME bourse. Currency derivatives trading on the exchanges takes place from 9 am to 5 pm.
Securities lawyer Chirag Shah was quoted as saying that any increase in trade timings could lead to more cost burden for small brokers. He stated that in the case of an extension of trade timings, there won't be any single stock futures but index derivatives as offered by the multi-asset class US exchange CME Group, which operated almost 24 hours, covering all time zones. It would lead to a rise in the manpower costs for small broker shops.
On a query regarding the anticipated NSE initial public offer (IPO), Chauhan said that NSE would give more information about the details when Sebi provides clarity on the matter.
The IPO plans had to be postponed after Sebi challenged a SAT order on the co-location case in the Supreme Court. The case dates back to 2015 when a whistleblower filed a complaint with Sebi alleging irregularities concerning NSE's co-location facilities. According to the complaint filed, the stock exchange indulged in practices of granting preferential market access to select brokers that led to market manipulation and artificial information asymmetry.
