Fast and furious: In a first, bourses cross 10 billion trades in FY25

Record numbers on both exchanges

The number of trades executed on the two largest exchanges in India, the NSE and the BSE, has just crossed 10 billion in the financial year 2024-25 (FY25). 

There were 9.7 billion trades executed in the cash market on the NSE in FY25. There were an additional 1 billion trades executed on the BSE, Asia’s oldest stock exchange. The analysis considered data for the two exchanges as they account for the bulk of continued trading activity in India across the years. Both are the highest in data going back to the 1990s. 

Both exchanges had 0.1 billion trades each in the year 1999-2000. Numbers have continued to grow fast despite volatility during FY25. The number of trades grew 42.1 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) on the NSE and 25 per cent Y-o-Y on the BSE. 

A combination of increased availability due to technology, a rise in machine-trading, and increased investor affinity for equity markets has likely contributed to rising activity, noted Alok Churiwala, former vice-chairman, BSE Brokers’ Forum, and managing director (MD) at Churiwala Securities. “The interest in markets is (at) fever pitch,” he said. 

The recent volatility also creates its own opportunities for trading. Global markets have been volatile in light of geopolitical tensions as well as trade initiatives from US President Donald Trump.  

The absence of other investment avenues has contributed to investors looking to trading as a means of generating additional returns, according to Churiwala. Trading earlier involved calling up brokers’ offices and placing an order, now it can be done through a mobile phone application while waiting for a bus, noted Churiwala. The lack of friction also helps increase activity, he said. 

Recent choppiness in the market during FY25 has also had an impact on investor behaviour, agreed independent market analyst Ambareesh Baliga. 

“You have a lot of people doing short-term trading rather than investing, because of which the number of trades is higher,” he said, adding that a growing investor base also plays a role. 

The number of investor accounts in which shares are held in electronic or dematerialised form (demat accounts) has risen by 41 million in FY25. Numbers are up by 156 million since FY19 before the pandemic boom. 

Increased algorithmic activity is a factor, according to market experts. The majority of the value of shares trades on the NSE cash market is now through algorithms, noted an NSE study published in March. Algorithms can place hundreds of thousands of orders per second. 

Derivative data is not available in the same format. But activity has been affected after the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) tightened regulations to reduce speculative activity and protect retail investors. The regulator has increased the minimum contract size for derivatives to as much as ₹15 lakh or ₹20 lakh, depending on the nature of the contract. It has also tightened the minimum amount required as margin before one can take a position in the segment. The value of derivative activity declined over 40 per cent after the moves, Business Standard had earlier reported. 

This coincided with increased market volatility. The BSE Sensex fell around 17 per cent from an all-time high of 85,978.25 in September 2024 to 71,425.01 in April 2025. 

Trading activity declined towards the fag end of the year. The number of monthly trades fell 28 per cent in March from its FY25 monthly peak on the NSE, and was down 48 per cent on the BSE. 

But the expectations on increased investor participation remains robust. 

“I think things look pretty good,” said Churiwala.