Shares of the National Stock Exchange of India rose Thursday in their long-awaited debut after raising $2.36 billion in the country's largest initial public offering this year.

NSE's stock gained 4.7% in Mumbai in early trading, outperforming the benchmark Sensex index, which was down 0.9%.

Investors bid for more than five times the shares on offer, with strong demand coming from institutional investors, NSE data showed.

NSE raised 67.46 billion rupees, equivalent to $704.6 million, from anchor investors, with shares priced at the top of their marketed range. Investors included the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and Life Insurance Corporation of India.

NSE's offering is the second biggest ever in India, after Hyundai Motor India's $3.32 billion IPO in 2024. The IPO valued the exchange at around $46 billion.

NSE is India's largest stock exchange by turnover in cash and equity-derivatives markets. Its smaller rival BSE, formerly known as the Bombay Stock Exchange, listed in 2017.

The highly anticipated listing comes amid macroeconomic uncertainty that has weighed on Indian stocks.

NSE's stock performance on its first day of trading will "depend heavily on the market sentiment", said Apurva Sheth, head of market perspectives and research at SAMCO Securities.

"Rising bond yields are generally negative for global equities, so this remains an important backdrop," Sheth said.

There have been 175 IPOs on the BSE so far this year, according to the exchange's website.