Trade Only What You Understand: BSE CEO's Advice To GenZ Investors

On the occasion marking the start of Vikram Samvat 2082, or the new Hindu calendar year, BSE Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Sundararaman Ramamurthy shared a message for the GenZ investors.

"My advice to them would be simple — Understand what you trade, and trade only what you understand," Ramamurthy said, while speaking to NDTV Profit on Tuesday.

The BSE CEO's advice assumes significance as an array of young investors end up losing money by betting on derivatives trade, despite lacking the knowledge to fully comprehend the working of futures and options.

A SEBI study last year revealed 93% of investors end up incurring significant losses in F&O trade, and 43% among them are aged below 30. This includes the GenZ population, or those born after the year 1997.

Ramamurthy's comments came on a day when the Indian markets opened for a special one-hour muhurat trading session, to mark the start of Samvat 2082, considered auspicious by the Hindu community.

The one-hour trading witnessed volatility, which was on expected lines as trading during this period is driven more by sentiment rather than fundamentals. At the end of the session, the benchmark equity indices settled with minor gains.

The NSE Nifty 50 saw a modest uptick of 25.45 points, or 0.1%, as it ended at 25,868.6. The BSE Sensex rose 62.97 points, or 0.07%, to 84,426.34.

Commenting on the muhurat trading, the BSE CEO said it's part of the long-held traditions and has a "deep inner meaning".

"The way of trading may change, scrips may change, and market numbers may change, but traditions won't change," he added.