Retail Investors Sell Stocks In July, But Continue To Chase IPOs

Retail investors turned net sellers in the secondary equity market in July, ending a four-month buying streak, but their participation in the primary market remained strong as IPO activity picked up. Individual investors sold stocks worth Rs 3,692 crore in the NSE cash market during the month, as against net buying of Rs 19,016 crore in June.

At the same time, individual investors' investment in the primary market reached Rs 7,134 crore in FY27 up to July, according to NSE’s Market Pulse for August 2026. As a result, their combined net investment across the primary and secondary markets stood at Rs 46,187 crore in the first four months of FY27.

July’s selling activity did little to alter the larger trend in FY27. Individual investors’ cumulative net investment in the NSE cash market stood at Rs 39,053 crore as of July 31, a sharp turnaround from the net outflow of Rs 5,803 crore recorded in FY26.

Retail investors continued to account for about 33 per cent of cash-market turnover, making up about a third of total trading activity.

IPO activity revived in July after a lull following the US-Iran war that began in late February. A total of 19 companies were listed during the month and raised Rs 18,574 crore as against Rs 1,882 crore in June. Of these, 13 were mainboard listings that raised Rs 18,349 crore, while six companies listed on NSE Emerge and raised Rs 225 crore.

The July IPO rush also translated into better listing performances. Around 85 per cent of the 13 mainboard companies that listed in July debuted at or above their issue price. Around 23 per cent delivered listing gains of 25-50 per cent, another 23 per cent gained 10-25 per cent and about 38 per cent gained up to 10 per cent. Only 15 per cent listed below their issue price.

The primary-market data also shows a rise in retail participation. The share of retail individual investors in mainboard IPOs listed during the first four months of FY27 rose to 29 per cent from 23 per cent in FY26, while the share of qualified institutional buyers fell to 53 per cent from 62 per cent.

These numbers suggest that retail investors were not simply staying away from equities after selling in the cash market. They were participating in a primary market that had become considerably more active.

More Investors Entered The Cash Market

The number of individual investors trading in the NSE cash market rose to 12.3 million in July from 11.6 million in June. This was the second consecutive monthly increase after five months of decline. However, the number of investors trading in equity derivatives fell to 3.53 million from 3.63 million.

Further, in the cash market, one-day traders rose to 42.8 per cent, or 5.26 million, in July from 38.9 per cent, or 4.52 million, in June. They accounted for just 0.53 per cent of total turnover.

At the other end, only 1.2 per cent of investors traded on every trading day in July, down from 1.5 per cent in June. Their share of turnover also fell to 8.8 per cent from 9.1 per cent.

This suggests that the headline selling number should not be read in isolation. Retail investors continued to participate in the market, but the intensity and frequency of their activity varied considerably.

Individual investors' total equity cash-market turnover actually increased 0.9 per cent month-on-month to Rs 18.3 lakh crore in July, its highest level since July 2024. Average turnover during the first four months of FY27 was Rs 18.1 lakh crore, 18.5 per cent higher than the year-earlier period.