Retail losses in India's futures and options market were concentrated among small investors in FY26, with traders holding equity portfolios of less than Rs 1 lakh accounting for about 70% of aggregate losses, even as proprietary traders made gross trading profits of around Rs 44,000 crore, according to a new Sebi study. The aggregate losses for individual traders stood at just over Rs 91,000 crore, where 9 out of 10, who traded in the high-risk segment, lost money.
The market regulator’s study showed that about 35% of individual equity derivatives traders had no equity holdings, while nearly 78% had equity portfolios below Rs 1 lakh. These small-portfolio traders contributed only about half of the turnover, but accounted for nearly 70% of the losses.
