BSE, NSE rivalry heats up in the battle of options

While BSE lags NSE by a wide margin, its Sensex weekly options have gained traction in recent years

- Ram Sahgal

The rivalry between India's two stock exchanges is set to intensify, with the National Stock Exchange (NSE) shifting the expiry day for its weekly Nifty options contract to Monday from Thursday, from 4 April. The move comes just a day before the weekly expiry of BSE's Sensex options, potentially cutting into BSE's trading volumes, which tend to surge on Mondays and Tuesdays.

A circular from NSE, issued after market hours on Tuesday, triggered a 3.5% fall in BSE shares to ₹4,299 at close, even as benchmark indices Nifty and Sensex gained over 1% each.