Individuals in India lost 916.85 billion rupees, or $9.6 billion, trading equity futures and options in the year ended March. This amount was lower than the 1.1 trillion rupees lost the previous year, the government informed lawmakers on Tuesday. The number of individual equity derivatives traders dropped to under 7.9 million from 9.8 million a year earlier, according to a written reply by Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary. The decline reflects steps taken by the Securities and Exchange Board of India and other policymakers to reduce excessive speculation. Over the past two years, the regulator has increased contract sizes, tightened position limits and added other protections to limit retail options trading. Last month the central bank introduced stricter funding rules for proprietary traders and brokers. These actions have reduced activity. Average daily notional turnover in futures and options on the National Stock Exchange fell 23 percent to 214 trillion rupees, or $2.2 trillion, in July from June, reaching a 17-month low.
