India’s Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX) reported more commodity clients in FY26 while the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) counted fewer equity derivatives investors; the figures do not show traders switched markets.
MCX’s annual report said 2.09 million unique client codes traded commodity futures or options on its exchange during FY26. The exchange reported this as a 61.26% year-over-year increase; its FY25 count was rounded to 1.3 million, so the displayed totals do not reproduce that percentage exactly.
NSE’s April 2026 Market Pulse, citing NSE EPR data, counted 8.5 million individual investors in equity derivatives, down from 10.6 million in FY25. The decrease of about 19.8% is calculated from those reported counts. NSE’s category includes individual domestic investors, nonresident Indians, sole proprietorship firms and Hindu undivided families.
The measures cover different populations. MCX counts PAN-based client codes that traded futures or options on its exchange, while NSE counts investors in its equity derivatives segment. MCX said it held more than 98% of India’s commodity futures market by traded value in FY26, but its client tally is specific to the exchange. Neither count shows whether the same people traded in both markets.
Trading activity on MCX also increased. Options notional turnover averaged ₹4.72 trillion per day in FY26, up 146% from FY25, while average daily futures turnover rose 137% to ₹644.07 billion. The turnover figures document higher activity but do not explain what drew clients to the exchange.
Zerodha co-founder Nithin Kamath wrote on X on Nov. 2, “The increase in the number of traders on MCX is interesting.” He pointed to options activity, price volatility in commodities such as crude, natural gas, gold and silver, broker promotion of commodity options after equity markets close, and MCX’s later hours as possible draws. Those are suggestions, not established causes of the increase.
MCX’s published schedule allows trading in internationally referenceable non-agricultural commodities until 11:55 p.m. IST after the U.S. daylight-saving period ends, equivalent to 1:25 p.m. ET (18:25 UTC). NSE lists 3:40 p.m. IST, or 5:10 a.m. ET (10:10 UTC), as the normal close for equity derivatives. Separately, the Securities and Exchange Board of India announced changes to equity index derivatives in October 2024, including a limit of one benchmark index per exchange for weekly contracts effective Nov. 20, 2024; the participation figures do not establish the effect of that measure.
