India’s capital markets remain resilient in H1 FY26: NSE

Mumbai, Oct 16 (IANS) Despite global geo-political headwinds, India’s capital markets continued to show strong resilience in the first half of the current fiscal (H1 FY26), mobilising Rs 9.7 lakh crore through equity and debt — up 13 per cent year-on-year (YoY), the National Stock Exchange has said.

In its market pulse report, the NSE highlighted that equity fundraising during the period stood at Rs 2 lakh crore, including Rs 64,363 crore from initial public offerings (IPOs).

In H1 FY26, 122 companies — 54 mainboard and 68 SME– have listed their shares on the exchanges, adding Rs 4.1 lakh crore in market capitalisation.

Meanwhile, the registered investor base on the NSE crossed the 12 crore mark on September 22, adding 1 crore new investors in just eight months.

Despite rising participation, women still make up about 25 per cent of investors. Additionally, the report noted that 55.6 per cent of new investors are under 30 years old, indicating that young adults are propelling market expansion.

Uttar Pradesh led new registrations for the 32nd consecutive month as the total client accounts reached 23.7 crore on the NSE.

Moreover, individual investors’ activity improved —1.19 crore participated in cash equities in September. Retail participation in derivatives rose to 33.6 lakh, with 77 per cent also active in cash equities.

However, turnover remains highly concentrated, with the top 0.2 per cent of investors generating 77 per cent of equity cash turnover and the top 0.3 per cent of options traders contributed 69 per cent of premium turnover.

The NSE-listed firm represents a combined Rs 5.05 trillion market capitalisation together and the platform remains the world’s largest derivatives exchange and third largest in equities by trades.

Additionally, the economic growth has also been resilient during the first 6 months of FY26, with GDP growth for FY26 projected at 6.8 per cent by the RBI, and inflation seen moderating to 2.6 per cent.

Monsoon ended in surplus, the fifth-highest since 2001—positive for rural demand. Global uncertainty remains high, but geopolitical risks have eased slightly.

–IANS

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