IEX Shares Crash By Almost 7% On Monday Over CERC Draft Order On Market Coupling 

Mumbai, April 20: Shares of Indian Energy Exchange crashed on Monday starting from the very beginning of session as the stock fell from its session high of ₹132.89 as soon as the bell rang and traded lower throughout the morning session to an intra-day low of ₹125.45 on the BSE, before somewhat stabilising at ₹126.48 ( ₹9.33 or 6.87% down) as of 1:00 pm am. IEX ended Friday’s trading at ₹135.81.

IEX’s 52-week high is ₹215.40 and its 52-week low is ₹114.60.

Analysts and investors were rattled after a new draft on power market regulations was released by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) on Sunday night. The order detailed the mechanics of market coupling and defines the role of exchanges in future power markets. In essence, the regulator made it clear that market coupling will come into effect from June onwards, which investors fear will significantly erode IEX’s dominant market share as the entity setting India’s power prices.

IEX shares on April 20. Source: NSE

The stock traded between ₹130 and ₹131 for most of April 16 and April 17, finally closing above ₹135 on April 17 in a pre-results boost as the company is set to announce Q4 earnings on April 23. On April 19, it rose 0.54% or ₹0.73 on a healthy day for Indian stocks. The nearly 7% drop on Monday completely erased these gains with the stock down ₹4.52 or 3.46% for the 5-day period.

IEX Share Performance For Last 1 Month

During the last 1 month, IEX traded around ₹130 at the beginning of the period. It dropped to around ₹125–₹127 in the last week of March. It recovered to over ₹135 last week but fell sharply again today on the regulatory development. The highest price of the past month is around ₹135 and the lowest is ₹125.30 today.

IEX Share Price Crash: What You Need To Know

Indian power exchange IEX crashed 7.3% on Monday following a crucial order from the market regulator.

What is Market Coupling?

The market regulator for electricity in India, CERC, published a draft document on market coupling. Under market coupling, Grid India will become the central bidding window that will take all bids from all power exchanges (includes IEX) in the country and provide a singular price to the market.

How does Market Coupling Impact IEX?

* IEX has a 95% market share in India’s short-term electricity market and is responsible for price discovery (deciding the price at which sellers sell to buyers).
* Under market coupling, while exchanges will continue to receive bids, they will no longer be responsible for price discovery. Grid India will now set the price at which sellers sell to buyers.
* With a decreased market share of 70-75%, IEX will earn less and less on its biggest source of income – transaction fees.

More Bad News?
IEX will be reporting Q4 results of FY26 on April 23. This means investors will have to deal with earnings as well as the uncertainty regarding the market coupling.

Source:

• nseindia.com