BNP Paribas buys 640,000 shares of MCX

BNP Paribas Arbitrage on Friday purchased 640,000 shares of the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX), according to information available with stock exchanges.

BNP Paribas Arbitrage picked up the shares through an open market transaction. The shares were bought on an average price of Rs 241.79 each, valuing the transaction at Rs 15.47 crore, the data showed. However, the seller of the shares could not be ascertained. Last week, HDFC Mutual Fund had purchased 300,000 lakh shares in MCX for nearly Rs 9 crore.

The BSE had halved the circuit limit for the shares of MCX, capping its maximum movement in a day at five per cent. Earlier, MCX shares were allowed an upward or downward movement of 10 per cent in a day. The exchanges generally lower the circuit filter of a stock as part of their surveillance mechanism to avoid excessive volatility in the share price.

Shares of MCX on Friday dipped nearly four per cent to settle at Rs 243.25 apiece on the BSE.