look news india
Mumbai: The lag in benchmark indices amid heavy selling by foreign institutional investors in the country’s equity secondary market since October has dampened the minds of investors, especially retail investors, which has impacted the addition of new demat accounts. .
A total of 97.70 lakh new demat accounts were added in the December quarter of 2024, down 26.30 per cent from the September quarter and the lowest figure in the last four quarters, the data said.
1.32 crore new demat accounts were opened in the September quarter. The total number of demat accounts at the end of December was 18.53 crore, which was seen at 18.20 crore at the end of November. A total of Rs 4.60 crore were added to demat accounts in the entire year of 2024, which is 33 percent more than the figure of 2023.
Indian stocks saw a big improvement in the December quarter. Benchmark indices Sensex fell 7.30 per cent and Nifty fell 8.30 per cent, the biggest quarterly decline since the June quarter of 2022.
During the tenure of new President Donald Trump in the US, Indian stocks sold off due to fears of trade disruption besides a tariff war. Apart from this, the signal of slowing down the pace of interest rate cuts by the US Federal Reserve has also disappointed the minds of foreign investors.
Poor results of domestic companies and weak demand have also caused disappointment among investors. The number of demat account openings has been increasing in recent years as equities offer better returns compared to other assets in the country. Apart from the secondary market, investors are also getting attracted towards IPO due to the boom in the primary market.
After the Corona epidemic, there is a huge increase in the number of demat accounts in the country. Market circles believe that ease of account opening has also increased investors’ interest in opening demat accounts. In March 2020, the number of demat accounts was 4.10 crore, which is now more than four times.