BSE, NSE duel soars on options expiry

A move by the market regulator to cut investor losses by cooling the frenzy in options trading on expiry day has had an underwhelming effect on volumes, but has sparked a fresh spate of rivalry between the country's two top stock exchanges.

- Ram Sahgal

A look at six-month options premium turnover data shows the country's older exchange, BSE, has outperformed its bigger rival NSE in the six months leading to 7 March, compared to the corresponding period in the previous fiscal year, albeit on a lower base.

This has offset the fallout from the curbs introduced by Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi)—overall premium turnover has fallen less than 3% in the second half of the current fiscal (October to five sessions of March) from the same period of the previous fiscal.

The average daily turnover or ADT (options premium based) of index and single stock options on BSE jumped almost threefold year-on-year to 19,943 crore between October and 7 March of the current fiscal (FY25). In contrast, NSE combined options' ADT (premium) fell 13% to 56,681 crore from October to five trading sessions of March from the comparative period last fiscal (FY24).