BSE to replace Wipro in Nifty in semi-annual reshuffle

Exchange operator BSE is set to enter the Nifty 50, replacing IT major Wipro, under the National Stock Exchange's semi-annual index review. The rejig moves billions of dollars in passive fund money. It marks a symbolic changing of the guard in corporate India.

The NSE's semi-annual index review came into effect on Wednesday, October 1, with BSE — the listed operator of the Bombay Stock Exchange — entering the 50-stock benchmark in place of IT services company Wipro. Index changes of this kind are closely tracked because passive funds with roughly $97 billion in assets mirror the Nifty.

Inclusion typically draws automatic buying from index funds, while stocks dropped from the benchmark face selling pressure. For BSE, whose shares have ridden India's capital-market boom, the promotion caps a strong run; for Wipro, the exit stings at a time when IT stocks have otherwise held up better than the wider market.

The reshuffle lands in a rough market: October 1 was the fourth straight day of declines for the Sensex and Nifty. Notably, the Nifty IT index was the only sectoral gainer that day, up 2.17 per cent, even as its heavyweight Wipro lost its index seat.