NSE, BSE see increase in retail participation

NSE in a release said the new client growth has been encouraging from cities like Bengaluru and Rajkot

The National Stock Exchange (NSE) and the BSE have reported an increase in retail stock investor base in 2015. NSE has seen the number of active clients increase six per cent last year, while the total number of clients on BSE has risen 11 per cent. The rise in investor base comes amid a five per cent drop in benchmark equities in 2015. NSE said the new client growth had been encouraging from cities like Bengaluru and Rajkot. The exchange also said it had seen an increase in cash market turnover in the retail segment in 2015. Lacklustre returns in gold and real estate over the past few years have seen equity as gain favour among Indian investors over the past few years.
 

The weakness in the stock market, however, threatens to slow investor participation. "Muted returns on other asset classes like gold and property are not enough to induce local retail investors to allocate more money to stocks," said Gautam Chhaochharia, head of research, India, UBS.

He added that negative stock returns threaten to falter prospects of retail inflows into stocks.