Smartphones now account for nearly 1/5th of all trades in stocks

At a time when new investors are coming to the stock markets in record numbers, a set of data is further corroborating the fact that retail investors are not only entering the markets to test the waters but are trading quite actively.

The share of mobile trading - trades that originate from smartphones - is registering a consistent rise and such trades now account for nearly one-fifth of all trades executed in the cash segment.

This assumes significance as any spurt in mobile trading only shows that retail investors are becoming all the more active in the market as other category of investors - high net worth individuals (HNIs) or institutional investors - typically trade through their broking partners in bulk and not through mobile phones.

Data from BSE shows the share of mobile trading was pegged at 19.09 per cent in November this year. On the National Stock Exchange (NSE), mobile trades accounted for 19.18 per cent in November.

While there has been a consistent rise over the years in the share of mobile trading, there has been a steep and sudden rise during the lockdown period when individuals were mostly working from home and had more time to devote to the stock markets.

Incidentally, the share of mobile trading was less than 7 per cent in November 2019. In just one year, it shot up to 18.49 per cent in November 2020.  

Since then, it has been moving in a narrow range and even crossed the 20 per cent mark in April and May, the latter registering a high of 20.99 per cent.

The surge can also be attributed to the increasing number of broking firms focusing on their trading apps. Interestingly, the new-age tech-savvy broking firms like Zerodha, Upstox, Groww and 5Paisa among others invest heavily in enhancing the features available on their apps and see a huge chunk of their overall volume originating from smartphones.

Interestingly, trading apps of some of the well-known broking firms feature among the top free applications in the finance category on both Google Play Store and Apple App Store.

The surge in mobile trading also coincides with the record addition of new investors in the stock market. Each month of the current calendar year has seen more than a million new investors coming to the markets - a new high being registered in each month.

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