88% of Retail Investors Lost Money in F&O Trading in FY26 Despite SEBI Rules
· Business · Economic Times, Zee News
Individual traders in India's equity derivatives market incurred aggregate net losses of about Rs 91,685 crore during FY26, according to a SEBI study released on Thursday. Nearly 88 percent of individual traders lost money, marking a slight decline from 90.9 percent in FY25, while total net losses fell from about Rs 1.12 lakh crore in the previous year. The drop in aggregate losses stemmed primarily from a 20 percent decline in active individual traders to 78.6 lakh, alongside a 40 percent drop in new entrants, rather than improved trading outcomes. Options trading accounted for approximately 92 percent of the total losses incurred by individual traders, while the average loss per trader rose marginally to about Rs 1.17 lakh.
Why it matters
The massive scale of retail losses in equity derivatives demonstrates that regulatory tightening has slowed speculative participation but failed to protect the vast majority of individual traders from severe financial damage.
Read the original report — Economic Times
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