NSE share price rises over 5% after near-flat listing

Shares of National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) rose 5.2 per cent on Thursday after making a near-flat debut on the BSE.

National Stock Exchange of India shares in focus

The stock opened at ₹1,800, a 0.84 per cent premium to its IPO price of ₹1,785, before rising to ₹1,878. At 10.28 am, NSE shares traded at ₹1,861.80. The market capitalisation stood at ₹4.60 lakh crore at the time of writing.

Listing ceremony of National Stock Exchange of India Ltd at BSE https://t.co/sFvHbSq53P

The ₹22,569-crore offering of NSE, the country’s second-largest IPO, received nearly 6 times subscription overall. It comprised Offer for Sale (OFS) of up to 12.64 crore equity shares by existing shareholders.

Shivani Nyati, Head of Wealth at Swastika Investmart Ltd., said NSE’s debut reflected realistic market expectations rather than an aggressive listing-day spike. She highlighted NSE’s approximately 93 per cent market share in the cash segment and 99.8 per cent in equity futures, along with its strong cash-flow generation and competitive moat.

Nyati noted that NSE’s valuation of 40.9x–42.9x FY26 diluted EPS at the issue price represented a discount to BSE’s approximately 54.3x, leaving room for potential long-term re-rating. However, she said nearly 79 per cent of NSE’s revenue remains linked to market trading volumes, making near-term earnings sensitive to market activity and SEBI regulatory changes.

She said short-term and listing-gain investors should maintain a stop-loss at ₹1,740, while long-term investors may hold through volume-driven volatility.

Brokerages including Macquarie and PL Capital have initiated coverage on NSE following its listing.

Macquarie initiated coverage with an ‘Outperform’ rating and a target price of ₹1,965. The brokerage views NSE as “The Dominator”, citing its leading market share and power, full set of services, technology stack and deep liquidity.

PL Capital initiated coverage with an ‘Accumulate’ rating and a target price of ₹1,950.

Macquarie initiates coverage on NSE with ‘Outperform’, sets ₹1,965 target price

Abhinav Tiwari, Sr. Research Analyst at Bonanza, said NSE’s listing has significantly increased its shareholder base, from around 2 lakh before the IPO to nearly 36 lakh after the listing.

According to Tiwari, the exchange continues to benefit from strong market share, high liquidity, network effects and growing non-transaction revenue.

However, Tiwari said Bonanza remains cautious as the stock needs time for price discovery. The brokerage would prefer to wait for at least one quarter before assessing its sustainable valuation.

Near-term risks highlighted by Tiwari include lower trading activity from the Closing Auction Session and possible selling pressure after the lock-in period.