With PAN Card, Proof of Identity, Address & Income you can start your demat account to start trading online. You can even buy a single stock from the stock exchange to start with. Always make sure that you select the right company with sustainable growth, right debt to equity ratio, high historical return and honest and transparent corporate policies.

Investors need to open a Demat account for holding stocks, mutual funds, IPOs, derivatives, currencies, bonds, ETFs etc. in the digital format. Trading account is used for buying and selling shares and Demat account for depositing the shares after the stock exchange dealings. Zerodha, ShareKhan, 5Paisa, HDFC Securities are some of the top demat accounts in India.

According to our experts, top 12 Demat accounts in India are: Zerodha, 5paisa, Upstox, SBI Cap Securities, HDFC Securities, ICICI Direct, Kotak Securities, Sharekhan, Angel Broking, Trade Smart, Motilal Oswal & India Infoline. In this document we compare the pros and cons of the top demat accounts in India wrt trading charges, services offered and technology.

BSE (Bombay Stock Exchange) and NSE (National Stock Exchange) are fully automated stock exchanges in India. The benchmark index of the BSE is SENSEX. It represents the average stock of 50 companies listed in BSE spread across 17 sectors. Similarly, NSE maintains the NIFTY 50 index, comprising of the average share value of 50 companies from 17 domains.

IPO (Initial Public Offering) helps in raising capital for firms by offering shares to the public. It is a crucial process for private investors as they get an opportunity to earn gains through share premiums from public investment. FPO (Follow-on Public Offering) is the issuance of additional shares by a firm already listed on an exchange to raise more capital.

Intraday trading includes buying and selling equities within the same trading day. Investors observe the daily movement of stock of prices to earn a profit. Traders invest in equities, currencies, commodities, and equity derivatives through intraday investments. It is essential to have in-depth knowledge about i advanced stock market tools to indulge in intraday trading.

Mutual funds investment utilises a pool of funds collected from multiple traders in purchasing stocks, bonds, commodities, and pension plans. It is an excellent investment option for freshers as a skilled a money manager operate them on behalf of traders. The application of the SIP (systematic investment plan) makes mutual funds an affordable investment scheme.

There are two main forms of investing in gold- physical and paper. Among physical gold, you can purchase, jewellery, coins, or bars. The paper form includes gold ETFs, gold mutual funds, gold FoFs, and SGBs. The major advantages of gold investments are convenience in trade, tax benefits, stability in the market, high liquidity value and inflation-beating capability

Gold investment in India has always been an attractive portfolio, thanks to its high liquidity value and inflation-beating capability. On the other hand mutual fund is an excellent investment option for freshers as a skilled and experienced money manager operate them on behalf of traders. Investing in gold vs mutual funds is not an either-or situation.

The Central or the State Government launches government bonds to raise capital for infrastructural development or avoid a liquidity crisis. Government bonds are supervised by the RBI. It is a very low -risk venture as it comes with the promise of the government. They offer interest on their face value and also repay the principal amount to investors after maturity.

The Board of Directors of high-yielding companies reward shareholders by sharing a part of the net profit with them. This mode of sharing of profit is known as ‘dividends’, and they are usually paid in cash or as additional stocks of the company. Stock owners receive the dividend if they own stocks before the ex-dividend date.

The derivative is a powerful financial instrument, the value of which remains dependent upon another underlying asset. It helps in hedging risk, stabilise the market, and acts as a speculating tool. Different types of financial derivatives include futures, forwards, swaps, and options. You can either trade them through exchanges or over-the-counter.

In the futures contract, investors remain obliged to buy and sell assets at a pre-specified rate during the end of the tenure. On the other hand, in the options contract, though buyers get the right of purchasing assets at a fixed price, there is no mandatory compulsion to commence with the transaction.

Listed companies may announce a rights issue of shares to raise capital for accomplishing their expansion goals. In this process, existing shareholders can increase their exposure to stocks at a discounted pricing based on their present holdings. Investors can purchase these additional stocks directly from the company rather than visiting the secondary market.

Shares released by small & micro-cap companies, trading below Rs 10 are known as penny stocks in India. Investors can earn a high return through these shares, as micro companies harbour huge growth potential. However, there is also a high risk, lack of information, & chances of delisting from exchanges in these financial tools.