National Stock Exchange (NSE) of India has got approval from the Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to launch derivatives on Nifty financial services index in the futures and options segment.

Currently, NSE offers index derivatives on only two equity indices -- Nifty 50 Index and Nifty bank index. The financial services sector assumes significance as the sector accounts for 33.5 per cent of the Nifty 50 index. The exchange will launch the index derivatives on Nifty financial services index from January 11, it said in a statement.

The Nifty financial services index comprises of 20 stocks and is designed to reflect behaviour and performance of Indian financial market which includes banks, financial institutions, housing finance, insurance companies and other financial services companies.

A recent investment data of foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) indicates that 48 per cent of new investment flows were channelised into financial services sector. The sector accounted for 35 per cent of assets under the custody of FPIs.

Besides, many asset management companies have mutual fund schemes on the financial sector theme.