Technical glitch: MCX offers no timeline for resumption of trading in latest communication

Shares of Multi Commodity Exchange of India Ltd (MCX) fell in Tuesday’s trade after the commodity exchange delayed the start of trading due to a technical issue. In an update at 10.20 am, MCX informed its trading members that operations would resume soon. It did not offer any timeline. The trading would start from disaster recovery, the exchange said in its fresh communication, adding that the inconvenience is regretted. This is the second such technical snag for MCX in the past four months. 

The time of commencement of trading will be informed to market participants, MCX said on its web portal.

Earlier in the morning, MCX had issued three separate updates—first postponing the opening to 9:30 am, then to 10 am and later to 10.30 am—before extending it further. The commodity exchange stays open from Monday to Friday from 9 am to 11:30 pm, and up to 11:55 pm on account of day light savings typically between every November and March of the following year.

"Update as on 09:45 AM-Members are requested to note that The trading will start at 10 AM due to technical issue. Trading will start from DR. Inconvenience is regretted," MCX had said in on of its post, which has kept changing as the time progressed. 

On Tuesday, the MCX stock was trading 1.15 per cent lower at Rs 9,201.35 on BSE. There was no communication by the company  to stock exchanges regarding the technical glitch so far.

The disruption came a day after MCX announced the launch of monthly options contracts on the MCX iCOMDEX Bullion Index (MCX BULLDEX®). The index, which represents the precious metals segment, comprises highly traded Gold and Silver Futures contracts on the exchange.

MCX said the new options contracts would provide market participants with a versatile risk management tool, combining diversified exposure to bullion with the flexibility of options trading.

“MCX BULLDEX®, covering both Gold and Silver, offers balanced exposure to the bullion segment for both investors and institutions in a convenient and cost-effective manner, addressing their investment and hedging needs,” the exchange said in its earlier statement.