This fiscal year hasn’t been that bright for new investors. In fact, the equity market has been tossing around enough volatility to make even seasoned traders panic. And the numbers show it.
Nationally, average monthly investor additions from April to October in FY26 slid to 12.7 lakh, claimed a report by a national daily.
And that’s a significant drop from the FY25 run rate of 19.6 lakh per month. Gujarat, usually a heavyweight in investor enthusiasm, found itself leading a chart no state wants to top: the steepest decline.
According to the report, the state registered 80,000 fewer new investors per month in FY26 up to October compared with the same period in FY25, making it the largest fall recorded by any state.
It didn’t stop there. All of the top 10 states felt the slowdown in their average monthly registration pace. Gujarat and Rajasthan were hit the hardest, with Gujarat’s monthly additions dipping nearly 50% (from 1.6 lakh to 83,000) and Rajasthan trailing with a 44% fall (from 1.3 lakh to 71,000).
Gujarat, the third-largest state by number of registered investors, effectively saw half its usual new-investor crowd vanish between April and October 2025, according to NSE data.
Yet October arrived with a small mercy. Uttar Pradesh remained the biggest contributor, adding 2.0 lakh new investors, though it posted the slowest MoM growth among the top five states at 4.9%.
Gujarat, on the other hand, had a reason to be upbeat: new registrations jumped 45.8% to 1.2 lakh during the month. Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal joined the recovery mood too, each notching roughly 20% MoM growth.
The general sentiment was that new Futures and Options rules had reduced activity in the options segment, contributing to the slowdown in new investor registrations.
They also pointed out that recent IPOs hadn’t managed to draw fresh investors and that overall market mood wasn’t upbeat, with Sensex and Nifty staying elevated while midcaps and small caps underperformed through the financial year.
These factors were seen as the key drivers of degrowth in the first six months, though many noted that activity returning to the IPO market had helped improve numbers in October, and that midcap and small-cap performance would remain crucial in attracting new investors.
Also Read: Gujarat Third Indian State To Cross One Crore Stock Market Investors, Says NSE https://www.vibesofindia.com/gujarat-third-indian-state-to-cross-one-crore-stock-market-investors-says-nse/
