MCX zooms on new MD's appointment

The stock of Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX) on Friday surged the most since its listing in March 2012 as the top management changes finally got completed.

The Board of MCX on Thursday appointed Manoj Vaish as MD and CEO for a period of three years, ending uncertainty over the top-level position and also bringing confidence in investors about the new management.

The stock after shooting up by nearly 19.5% in the intraday session finally closed the day at Rs 573.10, up Rs 86.40, or 17.75%.

The stock had seen a huge fall of over 80% in 17 months from its listing day closing price to hit its  all-time low of Rs 244.25 on August 16, after the surfacing of the Rs 5,600 crore NSEL scam and concerns over MCX’s trading volumes.

The immediate challenge for new MD would be to see how FTIL’s stake in MCX can be brought down, as per Forward Market Commission’s order.

The regulator had on December 18, 2013, directed Jignesh Shah-led FTIL to reduce its stake in MCX from 26% to less than 2%.

The regulator also had deemed Jignesh Shah, the promoter of FTIL and former director of MCX, along with two others — Joseph Massey and Shreekant Javalgekar — as unfit and improper to hold any position in the management or board of any exchange recognised by it or the government.