New Delhi, Aug. 25 -- Index options trading remained resilient despite a fall in the number of clients trading in the equity derivatives segment (EDS) of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) and BSE following regulatory tightening, a Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) study on retail losses in the space shows.

The number of active retail or individual traders fell by a fifth to 78.6 lakh in FY26 from 98.1 lakh in the preceding fiscal year, the study, which draws a sample of individual traders from India's top 15 brokers, shows. Simultaneously, gross EDS turnover fell by only 5%.

"The much smaller fall in turnover shows that trading activity stayed concentrated among the traders who continued to participate, especially higher-tur...