Bourses' equity derivatives turnover drops in September

Monthly turnover in equity derivative segment of BSE decreased by 51.7% in Sept 2013

Equity derivatives turnover on the country's leading bourses fell in September with BSE witnessing over 50% drop to Rs 4.03 lakh crore, while NSE recorded a fall of 11.3% to Rs 33.81 lakh crore.

The monthly turnover in equity derivative segment of BSE decreased by 51.7% to Rs 4,03,591 crore in September 2013 from Rs 8,35,189 crore in August, as per the latest data compiled by Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi).

This marked the worst decline in this segment on the BSE in the first six months of the current fiscal. In absolute terms, the BSE's equity derivatives turnover for September is also the second lowest for a month in the current fiscal after Rs 3.13 lakh crore recorded in April.

Besides, the number of contracts in the equity derivatives segment on BSE plunged by 55% to 1.34 crore in September from 2.98 crore in the previous month.

The stock exchange had seen a significant increase in its equity derivatives turnover between May and July before falling by over 40% in August. The turnover had grown two-fold to Rs 6.26 lakh crore in May. This further increased to Rs 6.73 lakh crore in June and had reached Rs 14.4 lakh crore in July before slipping in August.

Also, the monthly equity derivatives turnover on the NSE decreased by 11.3% to Rs 33.81 lakh crore in September from Rs 38.13 lakh crore in August 2013. NSE is a much preferred bourse compared to BSE for derivative trading.

The volumes of derivative contracts traded on NSE fell by 16.4% to nearly 11.9 crore in September compared to the previous month.

"During September 2013, equity derivatives turnover at BSE constituted 10.6% of total equity derivatives turnover in India, MCX-SX constituted 0.2% whereas that of NSE represented 89.2%," Sebi said.