September 2024 saw a clear divide in equity futures turnover, heavily skewed toward large-scale investors, while smaller traders contributed minimally. Investors with a turnover exceeding INR 10 crore represented just 8.8% of those trading equity futures but made up a staggering 93.5% of total turnover. Proprietary traders led this segment, accounting for 36.3% of high-volume turnover, followed closely by foreign investors at 28.5%. Meanwhile, individual investors, domestic institutional investors (DIIs), and corporates each held smaller portions, contributing 12.6%, 9.1%, and 8.4% of this total, respectively.
In contrast, turnover among smaller traders had little impact overall. For example, those with trades between INR 1 lakh and INR 10 lakh accounted for a negligible portion of the total turnover. Similarly, investors trading between INR 10 lakh and INR 1 crore made up only 0.8% of total turnover, despite constituting 51% of those active in the market. Investors trading between INR 1 crore and INR 10 crore, which included 40.2% of participants, contributed 5.7% to overall turnover.
Regional Trends in Individual Investor Activity
For individual investors in the cash market, turnover has seen a decline for two consecutive months. After a strong start in the first months of FY25, individual investor turnover dropped by 4.7% month-over-month (MoM) in September, reaching INR 17.4 lakh crore. This followed an even steeper 21% decline in August. Regionally, Eastern and Western India saw the most significant MoM declines at 5.2%, with Northern India following closely at 4.8%.
Despite these turnover drops, the overall number of individual investors remained stable, rising by a modest 2% MoM to 1.6 crore investors in September. The Western region led the increase, with a 5.7% rise in investors (now at 60.1 lakh), and Northern India saw a slight 1.9% uptick, reaching 56.3 lakh investors. In contrast, the Eastern and Southern regions experienced slight declines in active investors.
Turnover Distribution by Region
The regional distribution of individual turnover remained largely consistent, with West and North India leading in individual investor turnover share at 35.6% and 32.3%, respectively. Interestingly, Western India saw a rise in active investor participation, with its share growing by 129 basis points to 36.8% of all individual investors who traded at least once in September. In comparison, Northern, Southern, and Eastern regions saw minor dips in their shares, by 6, 67, and 60 basis points, respectively.
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