BSE stock’s 8-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 50.3 per cent was 38.3 percentage points above the Nifty50’s 12.0 per cent

As NSE’s ₹22,561 crore mega-IPO opens for subscription, investors must be wondering how much their investment in the IPO can deliver.

To get the answer, businessline analysed the performance of some of the larger listed stock exchanges globally vis-à-vis their benchmark index return. The BSE stock has outperformed the other listed stock exchange stocks, by a large margin.

BSE stock’s 8-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 50.3 per cent was 38.3 percentage points above the Nifty50’s 12.0 per cent, while its 2026 year-to-date return of 23.7 per cent contrasts with an 11.0 per cent decline in the Nifty 50.

While the strong demand for exchange stocks from Indian investors bodes well for the NSE stock post-listing, the same kind of stellar returns cannot be expected from NSE.

The gap between the performance of the stock exchange stocks and the respective benchmark index was much narrower in most cases.

The 8-year CAGR of Nasdaq Inc’s stock was higher than the S&P 500’s CAGR by 5.6 percentage points. London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) outperformed by 8.1 percentage points. Deutsche Börse (DB1), Hong Kong and Singapore exchange were other stocks which have given single-digit outperformance over the last eight years.

The pattern is different for Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the holding company of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), whose 10.9 per cent CAGR was below the S&P 500. Similarly, the Japan Exchange Group’s CAGR of 6.9 per cent trailed the Nikkei 225’s 10.4 per cent.

The 2026 year-to-date numbers show that ICE, Nasdaq and LSE stocks have underperformed their benchmarks while Deutsche Borse, Japan, Singapore and Brazil’s exchanges outperformed.

The strong performance of the BSE stock is because of the scarcity premium it enjoyed so far. Since it was the only stock representing India’s equity trading, BSE was taken as a proxy for the growth of Indian equity trading. Investors have been giving it a very high valuation, with PE multiple above 50, due to its uniqueness.

Two, the onset of Covid and digitisation of stock trading resulted in a sharp increase in the number of investors in Indian capital market. Unique investor base on the NSE has grown from 3.1 crore in FY20 to 13.5 crore now. Trading volume, especially in derivative segment has soared. Inflows into mutual funds has further led to continued demand for equities. All these positives for Indian capital are captured in the pricing of the BSE.

The strong performance of the BSE stock will bode well for NSE on its listing since it shows that investors believe in the long-term prospects of Indian capital markets. MCX, the other listed exchange stock predominantly trades commodities. But the MCX stock has also performed quite robustly with 8-year CAGR at 37 per cent and YTD growth of 44 per cent in 2026 so far.

But given the recent slowdown in investor participation, trading volume and higher regulatory tightening, it will be wrong to expect NSE to give out-sized returns, similar to BSE, at least in the short term.

Published on September 17, 2026