There was a busy activity in the National Stock Exchange (NSE) shares in January before the market regulator Sebi issued orders to former MD and CEO of Chitra Ramkrishna to share confidential information with ‘unknown yogi from the Himalayas.’ This can be seen from stock transfer details published on the NSE website.
Of the 209 transactions in NSE shares, more than one third involving foreign shareholders who sell to domestic investors.
A total of 11.61 Lakh shares were sold by foreign investors for the price between Rs 1,650 and Rs 2,800 per share with most of the agreements hit below RS 2,000. It cannot be confirmed if the shares are sold by one foreign investor or a lot.
While 11.61 lakh shares contributed 0.2 percent of the NSE equity base, it should be noted that NSE shares were not actively traded because they were not registered.
The peak price for NSE shares in January was Rs 3,650, an agreement between two domestic investors, but for small quantities.
There seems to be signs of distress sold by foreign investors in January, because almost 50 percent of similar transactions in December occur at prices above Rs 2,000 per share, with quite a number of them with Rs 2,800 per share. Incidentally, December also saw many foreign investors and non-resident indians cutting out their exchanges.
The last time NSE shares saw a confused trade like that in September, but most of the transactions were between domestic investors. Otherwise, there are less than 100 transactions in most months 2021.
While NSE has not yet go public, the demand for domestic wealth management funds and high net wealth individuals has been quite strong.
Leading foreign investors such as Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and Norwest business partners have entirely out of NSE in FY22, while some such as Saif Capital has cut its shares.
The reason mentioned broadly for foreign investors who cut exposure to NSE shares is a delay in the stock exchange plan for GO PUBLIC. But some observers say the busyness of sudden sales in January can be done with more than a delay in the NSE list plan. Sales time – just a few weeks before order, and the price, has raised eyebrows. Some market veterans think sales can connect the solid colocation controversy since 2015. (Read all about the colocation controversy here)
Over the past decade, investor investors at stake in exchange have continued to fall, and ownership of individual investors has increased.
Institutional investors held 87 percent of shares in NSE at the end of FY12. Which is now down to less than 50 percent.
The leading HNI that has shares in NSE including Radhakishan Damani, the owner of the Dmart retail store chain, in addition to other well-known stock market investors and several industrial captains too.
The NSE stock price has more than doubled than around Rs 1,000 in June 2020, because many domestic investors bet that exchanges will eventually get the agreement that is awaited for GO PUBLIC. The broker who deals on the market for unregistered shares says that the NSE stock quotes around RS 2800-3000 at this time.
“Investors don’t seem to be very concerned about that controversy, they believe that the crisis of blows after the investigation was concluded, it was a matter of time before the stock list,” said market participants tracked space.
For the nine months ended December 31, 2021, NSE reported RS 5,551 Crore’s revenue, with a 76 percent operating profit margin and a 54 percent net profit margin.
Earlier this year, Chennai-based spark capital initiated coverage on the national stock exchange with the ranking of purchases and RS 3950 target prices.
