October 29, 2025 : The country’s largest commodity derivatives exchange, the Multi Commodity Exchange of India Ltd. (MCX), faced a significant technical disruption on Tuesday, October 28, 2025, leading to a delay of more than four hours in the start of trading. The exchange has shifted operations to its disaster-recovery (DR) site and initiated a detailed internal investigation, while the regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has sought a full report on the incident.
According to MCX’s regulatory filing, the trading commencement originally scheduled at 9 a.m. was repeatedly postponed—first to 9:30 a.m., then 10 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 11:49 a.m., and 12:35 p.m.—before operations finally began at 1:25 p.m. from its DR facility.
The glitch impacted trading in major commodities contracts such as gold, silver, crude-oil, copper, zinc and aluminium. Brokers and traders reportedly could not log in or execute trades during the outage, leading to significant uncertainty and frustration in the market.
Root cause and recurring problems
MCX has not yet publicly disclosed the exact technical failure, but sources suggest the issue stemmed from a database problem that disrupted overnight clearing or trading system processes. Also notable: this is not the first such disruption at MCX this year. A similar delay occurred in July 2025 due to database issues with clearing systems.
In its statement, MCX emphasised that “all trading systems are now functioning normally” and that it is committed “to identifying the cause and implementing necessary corrective measures”.MEANWHILE, SEBI has formally asked MCX to submit a preliminary root-cause analysis followed by a final report. The regulator is particularly concerned because an interruption in trading at such scale can erode market confidence.
Market reaction and consequences
Following the reopening, MCX’s own listed shares fell more than 2 % in trading, reflecting concern among investors about structural resilience. Commodities futures opened sharply lower — for example, gold and silver futures fell over 1 % when trading resumed.
The disruption comes at a sensitive time for commodities markets, where timely execution and reliable infrastructure are critical for price discovery and risk management. Experts warn that repeated glitches could raise systemic risk and call into question the adequacy of exchange infrastructure and contingency planning.
What this means for participants
For traders, brokers and clearing members, the delay meant disrupted strategies and potential losses or missed opportunities. Many rely on pre-market orders and timely opening of sessions—when that is postponed by hours, the entire chain is impacted. For the broader market, it raises questions about the robustness of back-end systems like clearing, settlement, risk-management and disaster recovery.
Regulatory implications
SEBI’s intervention signals that technical infrastructure at market-critical institutions is under heightened scrutiny. According to regulations, if an exchange’s trading start is delayed by more than 45 minutes, a report is required. For more severe disruptions, financial disincentives or penalties may follow.MCX may also face questions about vendor management, system migration (previously flagged) and whether its backup/DR site truly offers full readiness.
Outlook and next steps
MCX has pledged to share findings of its internal probe “in due course”. Meanwhile, market participants and regulators will be watching for:
- the detailed cause of the glitch (software, hardware, clearing system, vendor/third-party issue)
- what corrective or preventive measures MCX will undertake (system upgrades, vendor changes, process improvements)
- whether SEBI will impose any penalties or require structural changes in MCX’s technological architecture
- how this event might affect market participants’ confidence and trading volumes in the short term
In the wake of this incident, the disruption may prompt exchanges across India to review their technology resilience, disaster recovery protocols and contingency readiness. For MCX, which handles a large share of India’s commodity derivatives trading, restoring trust quickly will be critical.
Summary
Trading on MCX was delayed by over four hours due to a technical glitch and shift to its DR site. SEBI has sought details and MCX launched a probe into the incident.