'False and speculative': SEBI chief denies reports of curbing weekly expiry; BSE shares up over 1%

News reports had said that the government believes weekly expiry is being used for speculation rather than hedging.

At the time of writing this report, BSE shares were trading at ₹2,400 apiece on the NSE, up 1.39%. Angel One was trading at ₹2,614, up 0.49%. CDSL share price, however, was trading at ₹1,549.10, down over 1%. The fall in CDSL share price could be attributed to the peer's NSDL debut on the bourses today.

Motilal Oswal Financial Services stock was trading 0.57% higher at ₹915.95 on the NSE.

The reason why capital market stocks took a hit following the news reports is that market participants worry that such regulatory tightening could adversely impact revenue streams for capital market intermediaries. A reduction in option trading volumes and expiry-day volatility—both significant drivers of market turnover—could lead to a fall in earnings for companies offering broking and clearing services.

In a report released last month, SEBI revealed that retail investors suffered aggregate losses of ₹1.10 lakh crore in the F&O segment during the financial year 2024-25, marking a 41% increase from the previous year’s losses. The alarming trend has intensified the regulator’s focus on reducing risk exposure for small investors, particularly those trading complex instruments without sufficient knowledge or capital.

In another significant development, a few days back, SEBI announced that it has allowed Jane Street, the US-based proprietary trading firm accused of market manipulation, to resume trading after the company deposited the mandated ₹4,843.57 crore in an escrow account.

The move comes after Jane Street complied with SEBI's directive, issued in the interim order dated July 3, to deposit the amount in an escrow account.

Following this compliance, the restriction on accessing the securities market no longer applies, it said.

It must be noted that capital market stocks took a heavy beating the day SEBI banned Jane Street from the Indian market.