
Only one in five derivative participants solely trades in F&O
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Even as the markets regulator took a slew of measures to curb the retail frenzy in options trading, it turns out that individuals participating only in the futures and options (F&O) segment of NSE comprise less than a fifth of those who traded in derivatives last fiscal.
The data implies that a significant portion of retail investors participating in the F&O segment have the experience of dealing in the equities cash segment. And, a small bunch trading only F&O may be the newer entrants looking to make quick gains.
About 2.1 million traded solely in the F&O segment out of a total of 10.8 million individuals who participated in derivatives trading in 12 months through February 2025, shows NSE data. About 8.7 million who participated in the cash segment also traded on the derivatives segment, taking the total derivatives count to 10.8 million.
To be sure, the number of individuals trading only F&O jumped from 0.5 million in the year through February 2022 to 2.1 million in 12 months to February 2025. Despite this surge, market stakeholders said, they are a tiny proportion of those trading both the cash and F&O segments, and could be newbies who entered in the past two to three years.
"The data implies that a majority of those trading on F&O have experience of trading in stocks," said Alok Churiwala, managing director at the five-decade-old Churiwala Securities. Also read | Sebi chief warns against "sledgehammer" regulation in complex F&O market Sudhir Jha, EVP and head, digital revenue at 5paisa Capital, said, "Those trading only F&O are mainly newbies who entered the segment to make a quick buck from options trading, especially in the first half of the year when markets scaled a record
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