Young F&O Traders Face Steep Losses As 89% Of Under-30 Investors Lose Money

Individual participation in the futures and options market continued to rise in FY26, with investors below 30 accounting for 43% of all individual traders, up from 31% in FY22. However, data released by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) showed that 89% of traders in this age group ended the year with losses.

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Younger Traders See Highest Loss Rate

The proportion of loss-making traders was higher among investors below 30 than in any other age group. Among traders aged above 60, 81% incurred losses in FY26.

Income levels were also a major feature of the data. Nearly three-fourth of all individual traders in the derivatives segment made less than ₹5 lakh a year. This group accounted for 43% of total turnover but was responsible for 53% of aggregate losses in FY26.

The loss rate was particularly high among traders earning below ₹10 lakh a year. In the lower and medium capital-employed segments, close to 90% of traders reported losses.

Total Losses Decline, Average Loss Rises

Individual traders recorded net losses of ₹91,685 crore from stock market trading in FY26, down about 18% from ₹1,11,788 crore in FY25, according to Sebi data. It was the first year-on-year fall in aggregate losses during the FY22-FY26 period.

Despite the decline in the total amount, the average loss per trader increased. It rose to about ₹1.17 lakh in FY26 from nearly ₹1.14 lakh a year earlier.

Across the five years, individual traders accumulated net losses of almost ₹3.85 lakh crore.

Options Account For Most Retail Losses

Equity derivatives, particularly options, remained the largest source of losses for individual traders. Options accounted for 92% of aggregate retail losses in FY26.

The proportion of losing traders was also considerably higher among options participants. About 87.7% of individual options traders lost money, compared with around 66% of those trading futures.

Sebi noted that retail losses in leveraged and derivatives markets have also been observed internationally, with a large proportion of individual participants losing money.

The pattern was not restricted to India’s largest cities. Investors outside the top 30 cities represented around two-thirds of individual derivatives traders and nearly half of derivatives turnover in FY26.

Retail Activity Stays Concentrated Near Expiry

Sebi’s data showed that individual traders continued to favour contracts with very short periods remaining before expiry.

In FY25, contracts expiring on the same day accounted for 70% of index-options turnover. Contracts expiring within one day represented 80%, while those expiring within seven days accounted for 98%.

Those proportions fell to 59%, 75% and 97%, respectively, in FY26 following Sebi’s measures.

Longer-duration contracts remained a small part of activity. Only 3% of turnover came from contracts with more than seven days to expiry, while contracts with more than 10 days remaining accounted for just 1%.

For investors tracking the broader market, the share price remains separate from the derivatives-loss data, which reflects trading outcomes rather than the performance of individual stocks.