BSE, NSE come together for combined trading platform

Stock trading can now be done on BSE's online trading platform using NSE's software, free of cost till 2011.

As per the deal between the two principal bourses, BSE's online trading platform would be available on NSE's software Neat-on-Web one month from now, for free, till 2011, sources close to the matter said.

Sources also said that NSE and BSE have both agreed on the deal for combining the BSE platform with the NOW software.

Traders on NSE would get access to the over 7,000 companies listed on the BSE, while NSE has around 1,400 firms listed on it.

Currently, over 1,84,000 NSE trading terminals are in use across the country from where orders can be entered into the system. The number of trading terminals of the National Stock Exchange in the country is set to cross the 200,000 mark soon, an official said.

Traders said that BSE's coming together with NSE, which have always been arch rivals was surprising, but in days of falling trading volumes this might encourage more investors to enter market.

Besides, Financial Technologies, promoters of Multi Commodity Exchange, charges up to Rs 12,000 per user ID for using its ODIN platform for trading.

Besides, BSE and the country's leading commodity bourse MCX have initiated a dialogue to explore a tie-up entailing sharing of technology for cross-holding to gain global markets.

The cross-holding of the Bombay Stock Exchange and Multi Commodity Exchange in each other could be 5-10 per cent, a person familiar with the development has said.

In 1995, BSE had replaced its open outcry system with the BSE on-line trading (BOLT) facility to facilitate smooth transactions. This totally automated, screen-based trading in securities was put into practice nation-wide within a record time of just 50 days.

BOLT has been certified by DNV for conforming to BS7799 security standards, making BSE the second stock exchange in the world to have this certification, according to information available on the BSE website. The capacity of BOLT platform stands presently enhanced to 80 lakh orders per day.

Besides, NSE's NEAT is a client server based application. At the server end, all trading information is stored in an in-memory database to achieve minimum response time and maximum system availability for users.