SGX to launch Indian derivatives despite legal move by NSE

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore Exchange Ltd (SGX) said it plans to list new India-related equity derivative products in June despite the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) applying for an interim injunction in a Mumbai court against their launch.

NSE's legal move and SGX's response intensify the spat between the two exchanges after India's three main bourses unexpectedly announced in February they would stop licensing their indexes to foreign bourses from August.

SGX had responded by saying it would launch successor products to its flagship Indian equity derivative products in June.

SGX's shares fell 1.8 percent in late morning trade on Tuesday.

"Our new India equity derivative products are essential to enable institutional investors to maintain their current portfolio risk exposure to the Indian capital markets," Michael Syn, head of derivatives at SGX, said in a statement.

SGX said it had full confidence in its legal position.

There was no immediate response from the NSE to Reuters queries sent outside normal office hours.

India's NSE, BSE Ltd and Metropolitan Stock Exchange took the steps to end licencing deals with foreign bourses to prevent the loss of trades to overseas rivals after SGX introduced trading in single-stock futures contracts.

The Indian bourses' decision was fully endorsed by the government.

The step was also aimed at boosting interest in the international financial centre being developed in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state of Gujarat, called Gujarat International Finance Tec-City, or GIFT City, sources have said.

Over the past two decades, SGX has become the most popular way for foreign investors to bet on Indian equity indexes, with Nifty futures tracking NSE's main index.

Worried by the potential decline in business, analysts have cut SGX's earnings estimates for the next few years.

(Reporting by Anshuman Daga; Editing by Edwina Gibbs and Muralikumar Anantharaman)