Business
Bombay Stock Exchange Plans Price Cuts
The Bombay Stock Exchange, Asia’s oldest bourse, said it’s planning to cut trading fees starting December 29 and roll out derivative products to take market share from bigger rival National Stock Exchange of India Ltd.
The Bombay bourse will also build up products that aren’t yet generating revenue and expand its services said James. E. Shapiro, head of market development. The Bombay exchange has 25 per cent share of the nation’s equities market while its competitor has the rest.
The bourse has been trying to wrest market share since the May hiring of chief executive officer Madbu Kannan, the former managing director of global strategy at bank of America-Merill Lynch.
Kannan, who said June 17 he plans to fight hard,” attempted to increase the number of trading hours recently to draw investors from its rival.
“The Bombay Stock Exchange had some difficulty in creating liquidity in its equities derivatives segment, so the new management is trying some new things’, Shapiro said in an interview recently in Mumbai.
The new products include a derivatives contract backed by the benchmark Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensitive Index, which started trading this month, Shapiro said.
The key stock gauge has risen 79 per cent this year, set for its best annual performance in 18 years. Purchase by global investors have reached $16.8 billion this year, approaching the record $17.2 billion of net inflow into stocks in 2007, the nation’s market regulator and recently.
The Bombay bourse backed by Deutshe Boerse AG and Singapore Exchange Limited and the larger National Stock Exchange partly owned by NYSE Euro next and Goldman Sachs Group Inc, plan to start trading 55 minutes early 9.am from January 4 to lure traders in Hong Kong and Singapore.
The Bombay Exchange first announced 910 minute extension on December 15, it was followed a day later by the National exchange which advanced its timings by 55 minutes to 9.am. The Bombay bourse matched the extension.
“Payment of tuition fees for undergraduate/postgraduate studies shall be subject to a maximum limit of $25,000.00 per semester,” the Manual states.
The expansion of international card limits also reflects growing confidence among lenders that foreign exchange liquidity has improved enough to support retail dollar transactions.
Speaking recently at the BusinessDay 14th Annual CEO Forum in Lagos, CBN Olayemi Cardoso, governor of the CBN said buying and selling activities now increasingly determine outcomes in the foreign exchange market, unlike in the past when market participants relied heavily on routine Central Bank interventions.
According to Cardoso, Nigeria’s net foreign exchange reserves have risen from just over $3 billion at the start of the reform programme to more than $40 billion, while gross reserves have climbed to about $52 billion, providing stronger confidence for investors and enabling the Central Bank to reserve interventions for periods of market stress rather than day-to-day liquidity management.
The restoration and expansion of international naira card spending limits are increasingly being seen as one of the clearest signs that the benefits of the CBN’s foreign exchange reforms are beginning to reach households, students and businesses making legitimate cross-border payments.
The Secretary-General and Chief Executive Officer, WEC, Dr Angela Wilkinson, disclosed this in a statement, last Thursday.
“Nigeria’s participation comes at a pivotal time as the country seeks to expand energy access, strengthen energy security, accelerate gas development and mobilise the capital required for industrialisation and sustainable economic growth.
“WEC Nigeria will convene leaders from across the energy ecosystem, apply the WEC’s globally recognised Energy Trilemma framework to Nigeria’s unique context, and promote evidence-based dialogue, practical collaboration and informed policymaking.
“It will also ensure that Nigerian and broader African perspectives contribute meaningfully to global energy conversations,” she said.
Wilkinson expressed confidence that Nigeria would play a significant leadership role at the World Energy Congress scheduled for Riyadh in April 2027 and beyond.
The statement also quoted the Chairman of WEC Nigeria, Isa, as describing the country’s participation as an opportunity to deepen national and African leadership within the global energy community through practical solutions tailored to regional development priorities.
He said the platform would promote collaboration across sectors and attract sustainable investments into Nigeria’s energy sector.
The Chief Executive Officer of WEC Nigeria, Wunti, was quoted in the statement as saying that the council would connect leadership, evidence and investment to build a secure, affordable and sustainable energy system.
“This system will be capable of driving economic growth and shared prosperity.”
According to him, the platform will also connect Nigerian institutions and businesses with international knowledge, technology, partnerships and investment opportunities through the World Energy Council’s global network.
Recall that WEC, founded in 1923, is the world’s oldest independent and impartial community of energy leaders and practitioners, advancing informed, collaborative and practical action across the global energy system.