Shares of BSE fell 1.5% on Thursday as its rival National Stock Exchange (NSE) made a muted market debut today on Asia’s oldest stock exchange, while Macquarie initiated coverage with an ‘Outperform’ rating and target price implying over 22% upside potential.

BSE shares fell to Rs 3,221 apiece, as NSE shares listed on its platform. The latter debuted with a market capitalisation of more than Rs 4.45 lakh crore to emerge as the second-listed stock exchange in India. Notably, NSE’s market cap is sharply higher than the Rs 1.33 lakh crore market cap BSE currently commands.

Also read | NSE IPO shares all set to list: GMP signals 2% listing gain ahead of market debut

The company’s initial public offering was launched earlier this month to raise Rs 22,562 crore entirely through an offer for sale (OFS) of 12.64 crore shares by existing shareholders. This means none of the IPO proceeds will go to NSE, as they will be received by the selling shareholders.

NSE shares were offered at a price band of Rs 1,700 to 1,785 apiece. With a lot size of 8 shares, the minimum retail application amount comes to Rs 14,280. A day before the IPO opened for public bidding, the stock exchange raised Rs 6,746 crore from more than 150 anchor investors.

Macquarie on BSE share price

Macquarie initiated coverage on BSE shares with an ‘Outperform’ rating and a target price of Rs 4,000 apiece, implying over 22% upside potential from the stock’s previous closing price of Rs 3,270.7 apiece.

The international brokerage says BSE offers an opportunity to participate in share gains in cash equities and F&O and non-transaction revenue growth.

BSE shares, meanwhile, have seen sharp swings this year. The stock saw a downturn last month after market regulator Sebi introduced the new Closing Auction Session (CAS). The stock again gained investor interest this month amid the buzz around NSE’s market debut on the stock exchange.

The shares of the company have overall gained around 25% in 2026 so far, although they have fallen a little over 1% in a month. In the longer term, the shares of the company jumped 57% in one year, and delivered multibagger returns of more than 720% in three years and 2,413% in five years.

Read more: NSE IPO Tracker: Catch all the highlights here

Other brokerages on BSE share price

Nuvama last month downgraded the stock’s rating to Hold from Buy, and slashed its target price to Rs 3,240 apiece from Rs 4,090 apiece, listing three key headwinds converging in FY27. The newly introduced closing auction session (CAS) has led to huge confusion among traders, resulting in lower participation. Nuvama highlighted that BSE’s index option premium volumes (ADPTV) of Rs 18,100 crore are the lowest since January 2025.

RBI's bank guarantee norms are the second leg, and they arrive precisely as CAS impact could heal, according to Nuvama. Additionally, the brokerage highlighted that BSE’s contract share of nearly 51.5% is already high, but ADPTV's share remains lower at around 36%, due to a lower mix of non-expiry-day contribution. This is limiting incremental upside from further share gains.

Also read | BSE shares drop after second downgrade in two days. Nuvama lists CAS among 3 key headwinds

Jefferies has an ‘Underperform’ rating on the shares of BSE with a target price of Rs 2,940 apiece, implying more than 10% downside potential from the stock’s previous closing price of Rs 3,270.70 apiece on NSE. The international brokerage flagged risks to BSE’s revenue from domestic proprietary traders, who account for around 50% of notional turnover. It sees headwinds from the STT hike, RBI’s bank guarantee norms and the Closing Auction Session (CAS).

Disclaimer: This article has been written by Debaroti Adhikary, who is not a SEBI-registered Research Analyst or an Investment Adviser. Debaroti Adhikary and his/her ‘relative(s)’ (as defined under Section 2(77) of the Companies Act, 2013) do not hold any financial interest in the companies mentioned in this article as of the date of publication. The views/recommendations mentioned in this article, wherever applicable, are those of the respective SEBI-registered Research Analyst/brokerage and have been reproduced/reported with due attribution. They should not be construed as the views or recommendations of The Economic Times Digital or the journalist. Readers are advised to consider the original research report and make their investment decisions based on their own assessment. Brokerage disclaimers here.