MCX jumps 2% as Sebi approves trading in castor seed futures

NEW DELHI: Shares of MCX climbed 2 per cent in Thursday’s trade after the company was granted permission from the Sebi to launch castor seed futures.

Following the announcement, the stock rose 2 per cent to hit a high of Rs 1,307 on BSE. The stock hit a high of Rs 1420 in October last year.

The commodity exchange launched castor seed futures on the same day rival NCDEX relaunched trading in the commodity after one year. NCDEX had in Jnuary 2016 suspended futures trading in all castor seed contracts suspecting manipulation and concentration of trade.Later, Sebi had even barred 16 entities from accessing the market and ordered forensic audit.

MCX has announced lower transaction charges of Re 0.50 per Rs 1 lakh of turnover than NCDEX for futures trading in castor seed contracts for February, March, April and May 2017.

According to a PTI report, Castor seed output this year is estimated to drop by 30 per cent to 10 lakh tonnes, from an average 14-15 lakh tonnes in the last few years, due to drought and shift to other crops because of sharp fall in prices.

At Rs 1,300 –odd level, the stock is trading at 57.34 times its trailing 12-month earnings per share (EPS).