Archive · 20 Aug 2026
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.
Proprietary trading firms earned ₹44,483 crore in gross trading profits in fiscal 2026.
Individual traders posted a combined gross loss of ₹72,243 crore, down from nearly ₹98,000 crore.
Foreign portfolio investors earned nearly ₹14,000 crore, while corporates earned about ₹8,000 crore.
About 99.3% of individual equity-derivatives traders traded options, and 93% traded only options.
Active individual traders fell 18% to 8.75 million as derivatives-market growth slowed after regulatory measures.
- Who
- Proprietary trading firms, foreign portfolio investors, corporates, mutual funds, partnership firms and LLPs, and individual traders.
- What
- A Securities and Exchange Board of India study reported that proprietary firms led trading profits while individual traders recorded a combined gross loss.
- When
- The figures cover the fiscal year ended March 2026; the study was published on Thursday.
- Where
- India's equity derivatives market.
- Why
- The market's activity and retail participation moderated following regulatory measures introduced by SEBI in late 2024 to curb speculative trading.
- 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%.