Active client counts at India's top brokerages contracted in FY26, with six of the ten largest platforms reporting year-on-year declines as retail participation retreated under volatile market conditions. Upstox recorded the steepest drop at 27.64%, with Zerodha and Motilal Oswal also posting notable falls. Angel One, HDFC Securities, and Kotak Securities rounded out the losing cohort. The breadth of the decline, spanning discount brokers and full-service firms alike, points to a sector-wide pullback rather than platform-specific issues. Retail trading volumes are a direct revenue driver for brokerages, particularly discount platforms that depend on transaction frequency rather than advisory fees. A sustained drop in active clients compresses both transaction revenue and the cross-sell opportunity for margin lending and investment products. The trajectory of domestic equity markets in the near term will be the primary variable to watch: a stabilization in volatility could reverse the trend, while continued swings risk extending client dormancy into FY27.
Indian startups raised $5.2 billion across 501 deals in H1 2026, down 9% in value but up 7% in deal count year-on-year, per the Inc42 Indian Tech Startup Funding Report. The drop is driven by fewer mega-rounds, while AI funding surged 317% and growth-stage deal activity hit a multi-year high.
The BSE Sensex fell 893 points and the Nifty 50 shed 279 points on June 30, 2026, wiping out roughly Rs 6 lakh crore in investor wealth in a single session. Both indices dropped 1.16%, closing at 76,200.68 and 23,824.10 respectively.
Kotak Mahindra Bank shares fell nearly 3% to Rs 397.6 after CEO Ashok Vaswani announced plans to exit the bank. Investor concern now centres on succession timing and whether the bank's ongoing digital and deposit-growth strategy will stay on track.
South Korea's Kospi dropped 3% at Monday's open while Japan's Nikkei fell 1%, as escalating US-Iran conflict triggered a broad risk-off move across Asian markets. South Korea's heavy reliance on Middle East oil imports makes it especially vulnerable to geopolitical shocks of this kind.
