MUMBAI, February 5: The contribution by centres outside Mumbai to the total turnover of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) has seen a drop in January. This, according to sources, has prompted the exchange to take up the expansion of its specified group to boost carryforward trading across these centres.In a related move, BSE is set to formalise memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with four regional exchanges - Calcutta, Rajkot, Ahmedabad and Pune - by the end of February. According to sources, the Securities and Exchange Board of India is likely to clear the expansion of BOLT terminals to these cities by February 12.
The average contribution of other centres to the total turnover of BSE was 16.10 per cent in January. It touched a high of 18.09 per cent onand a low of 13.84 per cent on January 29.
On February 4, the figure touched a high of Rs 166.41 crore which is about 18 per cent of the total turnover of the exchange. Interestingly, the percentage of traded scrips on the exchange which received queriesfrom the rest of the country averaged 65.13 per cent in January.
"Once we add on more scrips to the forward list both these percentages would see a significant rise. The basic attraction to the brokers across the country trading on BOLT is the fact that they can carryforward their trades, a facility that NSE does not offer. We want to cash in on this advantage," said a top BSE source.
While volumes average at 16 per cent of the total daily turnover on the exchange, the percentage of trades through V-Sats is at an average of 28.84 per cent. This shows that the trades from other centres are small in value. "This is because most of these trades are being transacted by the small investor," the source said.
"This shows that interest is picking up. We cannot hope to see a major jump all of a sudden till we get to the main metros. Even in the case of NSE, Mumbai, Delhi and Calcutta account for almost 65 per cent of the total volumes. Once we enter the major cities the share of Mumbai would automaticallydecline," the source explained.
During the month of January the percentage of V-Sat logins has also shown a sharp appreciation to touch a high of 353. The most interesting feature has been the steady rise in the logins from 335 on January 2 to 357 on February 4.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
