Sources said BSE's evening trading session may get under way as early as the first fortnight of February. But no one is willing to commit to this just yet. BSE president Anand Rathi, however, told The Financial Express that the exchange would begin evening trading if it is a demand coming from the market.

``That option is always open, though no formal decision on this matter has been taken as yet. But we will always give preference and due weightage to the demand of our members,'' Mr Rathi said on Tuesday. OTC's evening trading session is from 4.30 pm to 7.30 pm, while BSE's day trading ends at 3.30 pm.

BSE requires another 30 to 45 minutes for its post-closing session to be conducted after the main session has ended. By available indications, BSE's evening session may commence at about 5 pm or 5.30 pm. A top official of BSE said once the decision to begin evening trading is taken formally, it would be a matter of just a few days to put the necessary systems in place by making alterations to the existing software.

Importantly, the exchanges do not need a specific Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) permission to launch the evening trading, and the regulator has left the matter to the bourses.

The successful launch of the evening trading session in OTC has put the BSE brokers in a dilemma. They are of the view that the idea of an evening trade is a good one as in the era of technology stocks leading the way in the markets, the local markets have become intrinsically linked with the tech-heavy Nasdaq which begins its trading only hours after BSE closes its day trading. The launch of an evening trading session on BSE would enable BSE members to discount any information that comes after the closing of the normal market hours.

The BSE members also feel that their exchange should take the initiative to launch the evening session, as the size of OTC, as compared to premier stock exchanges like BSE and NSE, is very small. Evening trading in OTC can actually provide a platform for share price manipulation which may lead to price distortion and inefficient price discovery. This could harm the interest of investors and also affect good companies which are being traded on the smaller exchanges in the permitted category.