Norges Bank/Noregs Bank, Norway’s central bank, paid more than 50 crore for 3.38 lakh shares of the Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX). According to bulk deal data made available by the National Stock Exchange, Norges Bank purchased 3,38,000 shares of MCX, representing a 0.7% stake (NSE). The average price paid for the shares was 1,482.59, totaling 50.11 crore in transaction value.
Based on a recent extension of an existing software contract of MCX, the brokerage firm ICICI Securities said that ” MCX options has now extended the contract with existing software platform provider (63 moons) till June’23. This is disappointing given that the new extension (6 months) is longer than the first (3 months), as well as the higher cost incidence now in FY23/24. While we remain bullish on MCX due to (1) strong continued traction in options, (2) strong business position as India’s largest commodity exchange with monopolistic market share, and (3) ultimate expectations of cost reduction from eventual software migration to new platform, we believe that some of these upsides have been captured in the stock price’s 30% rally over the last quarter.