New stock closing auction faces first major test in MSCI rejig
MSCI-index linked investors are likely to adjust their portfolios ahead of a rebalancing which takes effect on September 1
The MSCI rebalancing, set to take effect on September 1, is set to test the new closing auction system in the Indian market for the first time. Investors linked to MSCI indices seek to adjust their portfolios a day earlier to align with the benchmark. With the new auction session still limited in volume, concentrated flows could lead to sharp price swings in individual stocks.
The auction, which runs for about 20 minutes, matches buy and sell orders to determine the official closing price of stocks. Introduced on August 3, the system replaces the previous method of using the average price of trades executed in the final 30 minutes of continuous trading. MSCI has added four Indian companies - Laurus Labs, Lenskart, Adani Energy Solutions, and Groww - to the index, replacing Balkrishna Industries, SBI Cards, and Astral.
The larger names entering the MSCI basket are not major components, so headline index volatility may not be significant. However, stock-specific volatility is likely, with sharp moves possible in individual names based on their liquidity and the scale of passive flows. The new closing auction has already triggered sharp swings, particularly on days when derivative contracts expire.
Written by urgent.news from Hindu BusinessLine's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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