Despite the deepening crisis, shares of Financial Technologies hit the upper circuit at Rs 158 on Monday. It gave up part of the gain to close at Rs 144, up seven per cent. On the other hand, MCX was locked at its upper circuit of five per cent at Rs 307.
NSEL, owned by Financial Technologies, is facing a crisis after trading was halted suddenly on its platform on August 1. When the payouts could not be made on time, a weekly financial settlement was worked out. But, even that could not be adhered to.
There were unconfirmed news that a series of settlement defaults by the exchange may lead to the promoters being declared not ‘fit and proper’ to run exchanges. This may lead to a new suitor for MCX with Jignesh Shah-promoted Financial Technologies offloading its 26 per cent stake, said an analyst.
“After crashing over 60 per cent in the last few days, the market cap becomes lower than the intrinsic value of the company. In this circumstance, even a wild rumour becomes good news for investors with deep pockets,” he said.
suresh.iyengar@thehindu.co.in