The Hindu Business Line : Kolkata traders prefer NSE platform

The City of Joy appears to be more at ease trading on the National Stock Exchange platform than on any other. Prominent players, retail investors and even corporate treasury heads tend to give this impression. Derivatives and arbitrage trading seem to be the in thing for Kolkata investors rather than plain vanilla cash market investments.

Even though hard figures are not readily available with the NSE, the exchange also indirectly confirms this belief.

NSE local officials, who are not permitted to share any information with the media, suggest that though traded volume numbers are rarely segregated, either to the exact detail at regional or city levels, it is accepted that within the NSE network, Kolkata figures third after Mumbai and the NCR regions.

According to Mr Ajit Day of Dayco Securities, who was once on the NSE and CSE boards, going by the rough estimates of the number of depository participants accounts, Kolkata has always remained a major equity trading centre next to the business Capital of Mumbai.

Mr Day, one of the very few who have extended on-line trading into the rural and semi-urban cash-rich heartland of West Bengal, says that the average traded quantity produced from Kolkata to the NSE pool could be in the region of 14 to 16 per cent since NSE's inception in 1997. This, however, do not include local net-based trading through the broking biggies, who have opened shops here as well. These trades typically go into the account of the firm's headquarters.

But after introduction of derivatives and marginalisation of the Calcutta Stock Exchange after 2001 scam, Mr Day feels, speculative business (sans delivery) dominates show on NSE now.

Equity cult

Investors here took to the speculative activity like fish in the water as many of them were steeped in the tradition jute trading and speculative stream of the badla transactions as also its financing, reminds Lyons Range old timers.

The Nifty futures and arbitrage trades, according to knowledgeable circles contribute about 70 per cent of the equity trading activity. "Number of day traders outnumbers investors, like elsewhere in the country," an investment strategist of a large broking firm, which provides more than 100 NSE terminals for the traders.

Mr Vijay Kothari, Regional Manager of Angel Broking, which opened its branch here only four months ago, thinks that though in Kolkata the trading cult is thriving, a new group of young MBAs and chartered accountants are thronging equity trading and investment as an entrepreneurial venture. "NSE is their favourite platform simply because derivatives and arbitrage business, which is illiquid or non existent on other platforms, are part of their strategic investment channels or crucial operational areas."

A senior official in charge corporate treasury of a Rs 500 crore company here said that even City's corporate fund managers prefer NSE because investment business has become more "active than passive even in this once capital of British Raj and generally considered indolent".

More Stories on : Stock Exchanges | Stock Markets | West Bengal

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Have you invested in the right sector funds yet?

Kolkata traders prefer NSE platform

Some more steam left in the indices

`We do not expect any crash/panic situation in near term'

Popley may expand retail brands

Market may move up further despite some scepticism