stock market
The National Stock Exchange of India saw a record decline in the number of active investors in FY26. This year approximately 35 lakh accounts were closed. This is the first annual decline in three years and also the biggest decline so far. This decline was mainly due to a huge decline in the number of customers of big discount brokers like Zerodha, Angel One and Upstox.
The number of active investors of NSE decreased by 7 percent compared to last year. This number decreased from 4.92 crore accounts in FY25 to 4.58 crore in FY26. More than 70 percent of the total decline, i.e. around 26 lakh accounts, were from Zerodha, Angel One and Upstox alone.
Zerodha was at the forefront in this decline, whose 9.95 lakh active investors were reduced. This was 29 percent of the total decline. Angel One lost 8.15 lakh accounts, which was 23 percent of the total decline, while Upstox lost 7.6 lakh accounts, which was 22 percent of the total decline. This decline reflects the prolonged volatility in Indian markets during FY26. Concerns like expensive prices, low earnings of companies and continuous selling by foreign investors weakened investor confidence. International tensions such as the trade dispute and the recent conflict between the US-Iran-Israel also further hurt investor confidence.
IPO was also affected
This weak market environment also affected the IPO. Investors did not benefit much from many IPO listings, due to which the participation of small investors reduced. With crude oil prices rising above $100 per barrel, concerns about inflation, government spending pressure and the stability of the economy have increased. Analysts also say that due to lack of investment opportunities related to Artificial Intelligence (AI) on a large scale in India, the interest of foreign investors has been limited.
Global brokerage companies like Nomura, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley have reduced the rating of the Indian stock market to ‘neutral’ or ‘underweight’ as early as 2026. Behind this he has cited the rising prices of crude oil, expensive prices and shortcomings related to AI. Nomura has also reduced its target for Nifty 50 to 24,500-24,900.
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