India prop traders’ derivatives profits fall to $4.7 billion

SEBI data shows profits declined as regulatory curbs cooled speculative trading and reduced the number of individual traders.

Proprietary trading firms in India saw gross profits from equity derivatives fall nearly 3% to 445 billion rupees, or about $4.65 billion, in the year ended in March, according to a Securities and Exchange Board of India study.

The decline followed regulatory curbs introduced in late 2024 to limit speculative trading. Profits fell from 460 billion rupees a year earlier, while losses for individual investors before trading costs narrowed to 722 billion rupees from 979 billion rupees.

Individual traders’ net losses stood at 917 billion rupees, and their number fell below 8 million from 9.8 million. Foreign portfolio investors’ gross profit declined to 139 billion rupees from 310.9 billion rupees.

SEBI increased contract sizes, tightened position limits and introduced other safeguards. Average daily notional turnover in futures and options on India’s National Stock Exchange fell to a 17-month low in July.

Proprietary trading firms continued to support liquidity, tighter bid-ask spreads and price discovery in the options market, SEBI said.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.

Proprietary trading firms continued to support liquidity, tighter bid-ask spreads and price discovery in the options market, SEBI said.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.

India prop traders’ derivatives profits fall to $4.7 billion

Macro, rates, and crypto—what moved markets and what matters next.

Macro, rates, and crypto—what moved markets and what matters next.