With record opening of demat accounts in the last two years, retail investors now account for 7.32 per cent holding in all NSE-listed companies, the highest level ever.
In value terms, they held domestic equities worth Rs 18.98 lakh crore as of December 31 over September 30's Rs 18.16 lakh crore on September 30, an increase of 4.54 per cent.
Individual investors have now emerged as a strong counter-balancing force to foreign investors, said Pranav Haldea, Managing Director, PRIME Database Group.
"This is a result of a combination of several factors including sharp rally in the stock market, more disposable income and time, lack of alternative investment avenues due to low interest rates and improvement in technology," he said.
These small investors continue to have an overwhelming presence in mid and small cap companies, which institutional investors typically stay away from. A study by Prime Database showed they held Rs 1,18,951 crore worth of Reliance Industries' shares as of December 31. HDFC Bank (Rs 65,292 crore), Hindustan Unilever (Rs 62,064 crore), Larsen & Toubro (Rs 51,397 crore) and Infosys (Rs 49,800 crore) remained their top holdings in value terms, data showed.
ADVERTISEMENT
In percentage terms, retail investors owned a whopping 79.64 per cent stake in Ujaas Energy at the end of December quarter. Sintex Industries (74.60 per cent), Visagar Polytex (74.60 per cent), Vikas Lifecare (66.72 per cent) and Punj Lloyd (64.17 per cent) were some of the companies where they held a majority share.
That said, YES Bank remained the most invested retail stock, with 41.01 lakh investors. It is followed by Reliance Power (34.40 lakh), Reliance Industries (32.03 lakh) and Tata Motors (31.98 lakh) and Tata Power (31.26 lakh).
RIL share price update: Shares Dip 4.33% as Sensex Declines in Afternoon Trading
