A staff member walks past the MCX-SX logo at their Exchange Square building in Mumbai yesterday. India’s new stock exchange MCX-SX started trading shares yesterday with thin volumes, taking up a steep challenge to build liquidity and win market share against dominant player National Stock Exchange (NSE) and the smaller and older BSE. The MCX-SX started trading in equities and derivatives, with blue chip stocks such as oil explorer Reliance Industries and State Bank of India being among the first shares traded. The Mumbai-based exchange has several local banks as shareholders and its flagship index will be the SX40 made up of 40 large-cap stocks representing a cross-sector of the economy. India’s investment community is hopeful that the MCX-SX can help reduce trading costs by spurring competition among India’s three bourses to reduce the cost of brokerage membership fees. They also hope that the exchange will create new investment products. The launch of the MCX-SX will provide “us an opportunity to contribute in development of India’s capital market”, Jignesh Shah, vice-chairman of the new exchange, said in a statement.