The National Stock Exchange has deferred the implementation of Monday expiries for equity derivatives after the markets regulator issued a consultation paper that sought to cement Tuesdays and Thursdays for contract expiries.

“Members are required to note that the implementation of this circular is deferred until further notice in view of SEBI consultation paper,” NSE informed in a circular late on Thursday.

Earlier that evening, the Securities and Exchange Board of India published a consultation paper proposing standardising expiry days for equity derivatives across exchanges, limiting them to Tuesday or Thursday.

Each exchange, it said, must select one of the two days for all its derivatives contracts, including stock and index options and futures. The move aims to provide predictability for market participants, reduce concentration risk, and ensure market stability, SEBI said.

On March 4, in what was seen as a surprise move, the country’s largest exchange had announced that it would shift Nifty weekly contracts to Monday from Thursday.

The monthly and quarterly expiry days of futures and options contracts of Nifty, Bank Nifty, FinNifty, Nifty Midcap Select, and Nifty Next50 were also to be shifted the last Monday of the expiry month. In addition, the exchange has also moved the expiry days of Nifty half-yearly contracts to Monday from Thursday.

The shift in F&O contract expiry days came after the NSE had, with effect from Jan. 1, 2025, aligned the expiry days of various contracts to Thursday.

While SEBI has invited public comments on its consultation paper until April 17, NSE has decided to hold its Monday expiries for now. They were to come into effect from April 4.

BSE, meanwhile, had also said it will seek market feedback before responding to changes in derivatives expiry rules. The move by NSE would have impacted BSE’s volumes on the trading days of Monday and Friday.

The consultation paper from SEBI may mean that NSE reverts to expiry on Thursday and BSE stays with Tuesday expiry, analysts at Jeferries wrote in a note on Thursday. “This may abate concerns around BSE’s potential loss of market share and impact on earnings-per-share,” the note added.

. Read more on Markets by NDTV Profit.This may abate concerns around BSE’s potential loss of market share and impact on earnings-per-share, analysts at Jefferies said.  Read MoreMarkets, Notifications 

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