Tech glitch: HMA Agro Industries starts trading before 10 am on the NSE

HMA Agro Industries, an exporter of frozen buffalo meat, has started trading before 10am on the National Stock Exchange (NSE), according to a report in Moneycontrol.

HMA Agro Industries placed new orders on the New York Stock Exchange at 9:55 am.

NSE conducts a pre-opening session to list securities and orders are entered between 9:00 AM and 9:45 AM. Then, orders are matched to discover the price, and between 9:45am and 10am the price remains stable. After 10 am, the stock starts trading and new orders can be placed.

Read also: HMA Agro makes a decent debut; Lists shares at a premium of 7% over the issue price

However, in the case of HMA Agro Industries, the share price was fluctuating before 10 am. At 9:55 am, the stock touched Rs 632, while the indicative opening price was Rs 625 on the New York Stock Exchange. At 10 am, the stock touched Rs 664.

Market participants said the imbalance may have led to an unrealized loss for many investors, according to a Moneycontrol report. However, those who were aware of this disadvantage could have used this as an arbitrage opportunity. When the stock touched the levels of 660 rupees on the New York Stock Exchange, it was still at 615 rupees on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

HMA Agro Industries posted bids of 1.62 times the volume of the issue. Individual investors bought 96 percent of the allocated stake, while the reserved portion of qualified institutional buyers was subscribed 1.74 times, and high-net-worth individuals 2.97 times during the period from June 20 to 23.

At 11 am, the stock was quoting Rs 630.70 on NSE and Rs 630.15 on BSE.