India has the third largest Internet user base in the world at over 200 million and is set to take over US by the end of this year. It also has one the largest population of youth in the world.It is no surprise then that the country has seen a steady rise in online trading among young investors.
The youth takes to online trading
The internet trading trend suggests that more people are taking to internet each year. For the year to March 2013, the National Stock Exchange reported 6.27 million internet trading accounts.
“The country has seen a sharp 72% increase in online trading amongst young investors,” according to a nationwide survey conducted by industry body Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India or ASSOCHAM. The rise in online trading can be attributed to the availability of gadgets, superior technology and access to investment information. Online trading has become a primary source of additional income.
The survey goes on to state that the value of all trades executed via online trading platform has grown more than ten-times in two years.
F&O a popular category amongst youth
The ease of operation is the main factor that has helped promote online trading amongst the youth. Knowledge of basic trading concepts is enough to get youngsters started. As they begin trading, they warm up to analyzing market trends and learn to respond to changing market scenarios. Analyst intelligence is also abundantly available online and that helps make trading easier.It is interesting to note that a majority of young investors prefer the futures and options or F&O segment to the spot market. The Futures and options segment is the largest traded segment in the stock markets. It is traditionallybeen seen as complex to trade by average investors who have preferred spot markets to the futures market.
Online stock trading augments income
Online stock trading is considered as a key to improve earnings, as it does not require any complicated procedures to carry out trades. Youngsters in the age group of 18-29 are most hooked to online trading according to ASSOCHAM. Men and women both trade online but the percentage of men is higher. Private sector employees form biggest percentage of those tradingonline. Self employed professionals and public sector employees also form a large chunk of those trading online with most young investors coming from the Nil-to-8-lakhrupee income bracket. Amongst cities Delhi takes the top rank in online stock trading followed by Mumbai, Bangalore, Chandigarh, Kolkata, Ahmedabad and Dehradun according to ASSOCHAM.
The advent of online stock trading has narrowed the gap between those who could afford to trade in regular markets and those who couldn’t. Online stock trading has made the stock markets available to the average investor. It has also reduced the cost of trading or investing in the stock market as online trading costs a fraction of regular trade.
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KOTAK SECURITIES
Kotak Securities is one of India’s largest share broking firm offering share trading account, online trading, option trading, mutual fund and currency trading services along with a research division specializing in Sectoral Research and Company Specific Equity Research. We also provide you with latest updates and news from share bazaar. click here to visit kotak securities website.
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