INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
SGX Nifty is open for 16 hours a day between 6:30 am to 11:00 pm (Indian Standard Time)It is a common practice for business channels,
websites and the investing community in India to look for cues from SGX Nifty, before the domestic markets open for trading
And this has become more pronounced in the recent past as markets worldwide have been gripped by volatility arising from the continuous
onslaught of COVID-19 pandemic
But what exactly is SGX Nifty?The SGX Nifty is a derivative of Nifty index and trades on the Singapore Stock Exchange (SGX), which is one of
the leading stock exchanges in Asia
Nifty is the benchmark index of the National Stock Exchange of India and is comprised of 50 major Indian companies listed on NSE, drawn from
various sectors such as financials, banking, pharma, IT, FMCG, etc
The SGX Nifty has Nifty futures as the underlying
The SGX Nifty does not have constituent shares, whereas the NSE Nifty has a contract size of 75 i.e
each Nifty futures contract has 75 shares.SGX Nifty has many advantages
The location of India and Singapore within the Asian continent facilitates a lesser time lapse and better connectivity between the two
exchanges.SGX Nifty is denominated in terms of US dollars, thus providing a good alternative to investors who do not have access to the
Moreover, it is open for as many as 16 hours a day between 6:30 am to 11:00 pm (Indian time), thereby allowing foreign investors to take an
exposure to Indian markets beyond the usual timings in India and gain leverage from the expanded working hours
This assumes special relevance to the hedge funds with significant exposure to the Indian markets.The expanded time window also allows the
market participants to take a view on the Indian markets based on overnight developments on Wall Street, without waiting for the Indian
bourses to open later in the morning
In contrast to SGX Nifty, the NSE Nifty opens only at 9:15 am and closes at 3:30 pm, totaling a little over 6 hours a day.One needs to,
however, note that Indian residents are debarred from trading in SGX Nifty contracts.
