Shares of BSE will be in focus today and are expected to rally after the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) issued a consultation paper proposing a standardized framework for expiry days of equity derivative contracts. According to the draft, SEBI has suggested that all stock exchanges align expiry days of equity derivative contracts to either Tuesdays or Thursdays. The move is aimed at bringing greater predictability and uniformity in the derivatives market.
The regulator has also proposed that stock exchanges will now be required to seek SEBI’s prior approval before launching new contracts or modifying the expiry day of existing ones. Public comments on the consultation paper can be submitted until April 17, 2025.
The proposal comes at a crucial time for BSE. Earlier this year, NSE had announced that it would shift its expiry for certain contracts to Mondays, effective April 4, 2025. This raised concerns that BSE’s recent gains in options market share—helped by having Tuesday expiries—could be at risk due to a possible overlap or cannibalization of liquidity.
However, SEBI’s new proposal may turn the tide in BSE’s favor. If expiries are spaced out and locked to only Tuesdays and Thursdays, BSE’s Tuesday expiry will now get regulatory backing. This creates an environment where both exchanges can coexist on designated expiry days, thereby reducing the competitive pressure posed by NSE’s Monday shift.
Market experts believe that such a framework not only ensures orderly functioning of the derivatives segment but also potentially protects BSE’s growing foothold in the options market. The BSE had seen its index options premium market share surge from 16% in December 2024 to over 22% in February 2025, driven largely by its Tuesday expiry contracts.
