Gandhinagar: NSE International Exchange (NSE IX) and Singapore Exchange (SGX Group) today announced a strong start to the full-scale operations of the NSE IX-SGX GIFT Connect. Trading of the USD-denominated GIFT Nifty started this morning with an open interest of US$8.05 billion in Nifty futures and over US$1.05 billion open interest in Nifty Options from SGX’s international client network. The first session recorded turnover of US$1.13 billion at 15:40 IST, demonstrating high confidence from global institutional investors.

With India’s economy projected to become the world’s third largest, the Connect presents an innovative pathway for international investors to gain exposure to India equities market. The GIFT Connect unifies both international and domestic participants, creating a deeper liquidity pool, and an expanded shelf of Nifty products for investors. The trading and matching of USD-denominated Nifty equity derivatives will be in GIFT City and the clearing and settlement of the contracts will be managed by SGX in Singapore.

National Stock Exchange (NSE) and SGX Group have enjoyed a long-standing relationship of more than 22 years. Today, both exchanges have forged closer ties to promote cross-border cooperation between the two markets and explore other opportunities to develop new product offerings.  The NSE IX-SGX GIFT Connect is one of the key developments for the integration of GIFT City ecosystem with the international financial markets.  This will lead to the development of vibrant and liquid markets for India access products at GIFT City with the ease of access to international investors.

GIFT NIFTY contracts are available for trading for almost 21 hours, which overlaps Asia, Europe, and US trading hours.  Trading hours for Index Futures and Index Options are as follows:

Commenting on the occaison, Injeti Srinivas, Chairman, IFSCA, said, “The NSE IX – SGX GIFT Connect is a classic demonstration of how two exchanges from two different jurisdictions can forge a mutually beneficial collaboration. The complete migration of the re-branded GIFT-NIFTY to GIFT IFSC will consolidate the international liquidity pool for Nifty products in the NSE IX exchange and will a give a boost to GIFT-IFSC as a global hub for international financial products and services.”

” The extension of trading hours and the exclusive trading of US dollar-denominated Nifty derivatives on NSE International Exchange will attract discerning global investors while propelling economic growth at an accelerated pace. By facilitating seamless access to global markets and fostering a culture of innovation, this momentous development will undeniably catalyse India’s emergence as a vibrant financial powerhouse,” said Tapan Ray, MD & Group CEO, GIFT City. DeshGujarat