Indian stockbrokers’ combined active client base on the NSE rose by about 1.6 Lakh to 4.61 Cr in September, despite benchmark indices recording their steepest monthly decline in six months.
Market leader Groww continued to widen its lead in India’s stockbroking market over the previous month, adding 1.01 Lakh active users even as benchmark indices recorded their steepest monthly decline in six months.
Meanwhile, Angel One managed to narrow its gap with Zerodha, as the latter saw a marginal decline in its active client base, while Dhan continued to add clients, according to NSE data. Dale Vaz-led Sahi emerged as the fastest-growing broker, with its user base rising about 11% to 2.53 Lakh.
The expansion came amid a selloff in Indian equities, driven by foreign investor outflows, elevated crude oil prices, and inflation concerns. Despite the market weakness, domestic investors continued to invest in equity mutual funds.
Groww Leads As Zerodha, Upstox Lose Clients
Groww’s active client base increased to 1.34 Cr in September from 1.33 Cr in August, taking its market share to 29.16%. However, its net additions slowed to 1.01 Lakh from 2.2 Lakh in August.
Second-largest broker Zerodha lost 5,313 active clients during the month, taking its base to 67.92 Lakh. Angel One added 36,956 active clients to reach 67.56 Lakh, narrowing the gap with Zerodha to around 35,830 clients. The two brokers had 67.97 Lakh and 67.19 Lakh active clients, respectively, in August.
Zerodha’s market share stood at 14.73%, marginally ahead of Angel One’s 14.65%. The gap between the two brokers has narrowed as Angel One continued to add clients while Zerodha’s base contracted in September.
Angel One’s September business update, however, pointed to a mixed picture, with client growth accompanied by weaker activity in some segments. Its client base rose 1.1% MoM to about 4 Cr, while gross client acquisitions fell 19.6% to 4.5 Lakh.
The number of orders increased 11.7% to 12.2 Cr, taking average daily orders to 58.2 Lakh from 52.1 Lakh in August.
“While cash market share moderated in September 2026, exit trends improved, with sequential growth in average daily orders and turnover market share across overall equities and equity derivatives,” the company said in its monthly disclosures earlier.
Further, fintech unicorn Dhan, operated by Raise Securities, continued to gain ground. With the addition of 13,624 active clients in the month, Dhan’s user base expanded to 11.21 Lakh. Its client base rose from 11.07 lakh in August, when it added 19,818 clients.
Despite the slower pace of additions, Dhan maintained its position as the eighth-largest broker by active clients.
Among other leading platforms, ICICI Securities added 4,410 active clients to reach 21.61 lakh, while HDFC Securities added 2,532 to reach 13.54 lakh. Upstox lost 10,343 active clients, taking its base to 18.54 lakh from 18.65 lakh in August.
The biggest dent in the active user base was incurred by SBI Securities. The retail stockbroking subsidiary of SBI Capital Markets lost 22,525 active users to end September with 10.21 Lakh, compared with 10.44 Lakh a month earlier.
Indian Equities Fall Amid FII Outflows
The Nifty 50 declined 6.1% in September to close at 22,620.45, while the BSE Sensex fell 5.8% to 72,480.29. This marked the benchmarks’ second consecutive monthly decline and their steepest correction since March.
Alongside foreign investor selling, geopolitical uncertainty and elevated crude oil prices weighed on markets. Higher oil prices fuelled concerns about India’s import bill, inflation, and currency stability, while a weaker rupee added to the pressure.
According to JM Financial Institutional Securities’ September flow tracker, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) recorded net equity outflows of ₹39,660 Cr ($4.1 Bn), while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers of around $8 Bn.
FIIs invested a net ₹9,300 Cr in the primary market but withdrew a net ₹49,000 Cr from the secondary market. Their ownership of Indian equities fell to 13.8% in September 2026 from 19.9% in September 2016.
Edited by Akshit Pushkarna
Creatives by Varshita Srivastava
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