1 week ago

Prop Traders Profit as Indian Retail Derivatives Losses Narrow

A study looked at how different groups performed when trading financial products in India.

Professional trading firms made the most money, earning about ₹44,500 crore.

Individual people who traded lost about ₹72,000 crore in total.

Their losses were still large, but smaller than the previous year.

Most individual traders focused on options rather than futures.

The number of active individual traders also fell by 18%.

Fewer new people joined the market than in earlier years.

The market grew more slowly after new rules aimed at reducing speculative trading.

The study shows that professional traders and individual traders had very different results.

Key facts

Proprietary-firm profit: ₹44,483 crore in fiscal 2026, compared with ₹45,955 crore a year earlier.
Individual-trader loss: ₹72,243 crore in gross losses, down from nearly ₹98,000 crore the previous year.
Active individuals: 8.75 million in fiscal 2026, down 18% from 10.62 million.
Options participation: 99.3% of individual traders traded options at least once, and 93% traded only options.
New entrants: 2.08 million individuals entered the market in fiscal 2026, down from 3.43 million in fiscal 2025.
Market turnover growth: Notional equity-derivatives turnover rose 4.2% in fiscal 2026, compared with 20.4% in fiscal 2025.
Futures and options: Futures turnover declined 15%, while options premium turnover grew 7%.

CNBC TV 18 · 1 week ago