Now Reading: Retail F&O losses drop to Rs 91,685 crore, per-investor loss up
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Retail F&O losses drop to Rs 91,685 crore, per-investor loss up
New Sebi rules have cut the aggregate losses of retail investors in the equity F&O segment to Rs 91,685 crore in FY26, down from Rs 1.1 lakh crore the previous year, Parliament…
The Story in Brief
New Sebi rules have cut the aggregate losses of retail investors in the equity F&O segment to Rs 91,685 crore in FY26, down from Rs 1.1 lakh crore the previous year, Parliament was told on Tuesday. However, the average loss per person rose from Rs 1.1 lakh to Rs 1.2 lakh. The number of retail traders in the segment fell to 78.6 lakh from 98.1 lakh, and trading volumes dropped from Rs 213 lakh crore to Rs 202 lakh crore.
Junior finance minister Pankaj Chaudhary, in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, attributed the decline to measures taken by Sebi since November 2024, including higher margins, larger contract sizes, and rationalisation of weekly index derivatives. The regulator observed a year-on-year fall in both unique individual investors and their net losses.
The Indian Opinion
The drop in aggregate retail F&O losses is welcome, but the rise in per-investor loss from Rs 1.1 lakh to Rs 1.2 lakh should temper any celebration. The narrative that Sebi’s tighter norms are a blanket success ignores the traders still taking bigger hits. Meanwhile, a 20% fall in the number of retail participants suggests many have been pushed out, not reformed. The real test is whether the remaining 78.6 lakh investors are trading smartly or just concentrating risk among fewer hands. Will the regulator need another round of tightening?
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
