Brokers’ active client base shrinks 10% from Dec peak

. Weak mkts, stiff F&O norms push brokers to new lines of business

- ANANYA GROVER

THE FALL IN the stock market and tighter Sebi guidelines in the derivatives trading have lead to a 10% decline in the the total active client base of brokers from its peak at the end of December.

In September-end, the number of active clients stood at 44.35 million, down from 49.49 million in December, according to data from the National Stock Exchange.

IPO-bound Groww attributed this fall to seasonal factors in its DRHP, citing a Redseer Report. Trivesh D, COO of Tradejini, attributed this fall to a sideways direction of the market and a cooling effect after post-Covid activity."Markets are expanding even if certain products like weekly Bank Nifty are not available and trading in commodities has increased," he said.

Nithin Kamath, founder and CEO of Zerodha, in a business update at the end of September, said the risk of regulators questioning the utility of options turnover has now crystallised with the increase in STT on options and the reduction of expiries to two weekly contracts on options.