For the second consecutive day, the Multi Commodity Exchange of India stock tumbled at the bourses. The MCX stock on Friday crashed 4.5 per cent to Rs 970.10 after attempts by NYSE-Euronext on Thursday to sell its entire stake failed because of a poor response from investors.
Meanwhile, according to block deal data on the BSE, Merrill Lynch Holdings (Mauritius) offloaded nearly two per cent stake or 10.19 lakh shares in the commodity bourse for about Rs 104 crore. Private equity major Blackstone picked up those shares at an average price of Rs 1,020.
As of December quarter, Merrill Lynch Holdings (Mauritius) held 24.42 lakh shares or 4.79 per cent stake in MCX.
When Business Line sent an e-mail query on Thursday, NYSE Euronext’s Communications Director Richard Adamonis declined to comment on the stake sale.
NYSE Euronext had acquired the stake in MCX in June 2008. The stock has been under pressure following the Union Budget 2013-14 proposal to levy a 0.01 per cent commodity transaction tax on non-agricultural commodities futures.
Trading in commodity derivatives will not be considered as a ‘speculative transaction’ and CTT shall be allowed as deduction if the income from such transaction forms part of business income, the Finance Minister had announced .
badrinarayanan.ks@thehindu.co.in
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.