NSE becomes world's sixth largest bourse with $47 billion m-cap

ET Intelligence Group: The National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) has become the sixth largest bourse in the world in terms of market capitalisation after its listing on Thursday. Its market cap reached nearly $47 billion (₹4.5 lakh crore) after its shares closed at ₹1,818 on the BSE. The stock debuted at ₹1,800 against the issue price of ₹1,785. NSE, the country's largest stock exchange by total turnover in the cash and equity derivatives segments, trades at a price-to-earnings multiple of 43 times, the highest among its listed global peers. The valuation premium reflects its superior Ebitda margin and investors' expectations of stronger earnings growth driven by growing financialisation of household savings.

Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the parent of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is the largest listed bourse with $87.8 billion market cap, followed by Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing and Deutsche Borse with market caps of $63.6 billion and $59.5 billion respectively, according to Bloomberg. Nasdaq and London Stock Exchange Group has $53.3 billion and $53 billion market cap.

Read more: NSE shares list with gains on debut day: How much Radhakishan Damani, Raamdeo Agrawal & other ace investors’ stakes are now worth


Despite having a smaller market cap base, NSE's P/E multiple is well above the range of 25-30 times for the top five global exchanges and also exceeds the 24-34 times range at which the 10 largest listed exchange operators trade.

Read more: Snapdeal parent AceVector raises Rs 189 crore from anchors; Negen, Singularity among top investors

India's capital markets are expected to see strong structural growth, supported by rising incomes, greater financialisation of savings and increasing retail participation. According to a Redseer report, India's cash market turnover is projected to grow annually at a 14-16% to ₹473-507 lakh crore by FY30 from ₹280 lakh crore in FY26. NSE also compares favourably with its global peers on operating profitability. Its operating Ebitda margin of 66.9% is at the upper end of the 53-80% range of the five largest listed exchange operators.