India’s capital markets are languishing under multiple headwinds, even as stocks tied to the financial-market ecosystem continue to enjoy strong investor appetite. At a time when portfolios are bleeding as the Nifty 50 has lost nearly 13 per cent on a year-to-date (YTD) basis, the Nifty Capital Markets, a 17-stock index constituting brokers, asset managers and market infrastructure plays, has rallied 13 per cent during the same period, signalling strong appetite for these companies.
However, the gains are not even. Ten of 17 stocks rose during the period, with Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) leading the way with a 49 per cent gain. Anand Rathi Wealth follows suit on the back of a 38 per cent rise. Motilal Oswal Financial Services (MOFSL), Angel One, BSE, Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC and Nuvama Wealth Management are among other top gainers with a 24-26 per cent increase.

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Explaining the traction in these companies, Harshal Dasani, business head at INVAsset, called them the "toll roads" for the equity market. "They earn on turnover and assets under management, not on whether the index rises. A correction with high volatility is good for turnover, and a correction absorbed by domestic flows is good for AUM.

Both have happened at once," Dasani said. Even as foreign investors have offloaded stocks worth crores, the domestic faith in equities has largely stayed put as signalled by the SIP numbers. So far in FY27 (as of August), SIP contribution is at ₹1.58 trillion, with inflows of over ₹30,000 crore in all five months of the fiscal.
In FY26, the figure was ₹3.49 trillion. Every rupee passes through this index's constituents regardless of where the Nifty settles. The number of NSE active investors has seen a healthy 26 per cent CAGR over FY20-26, with the mix of participation shifting meaningfully toward derivatives and cross-segment trading, said Macquarie in a note in September.

Additionally, it said, SIP contribution has become an increasingly important and stable pillar of mutual fund AUM. The earnings trajectory confirms this trend. BSE, for instance, reported a 62 per cent jump in consolidated net profit to ₹872.66 crore in Q1FY27, while Groww reported a 94 per cent increase.
Anand Rathi Wealth saw a healthy 24 per cent increase, Nuvama Wealth 16 per cent and MOFSL 10 per cent. Check - TOP GAINERS NSE | TOP LOSERS NSE Outlook: Capital market stocksWith the growing financialisation trend, analysts at Macquarie said brokers and exchanges should benefit from a larger investor base, rising engagement and broader monetisation across investment products.

Indians save $500 billion annually in financial assets, and almost 50 per cent is parked in cash and deposits. This pool is ready for market-linked products, which will drive a 16 per cent CAGR in India’s combined investment & wealth and exchanges revenue pool over FY26-30E, estimates the global brokerage.
"Though regulations may disrupt volumes, historically we have seen volume recovery on the back of stronger investor protection, transparency and market stability, thereby strengthening the market," it said. Dasani, too, expects traction in these companies but the trend will not be uniform.

The AUM-linked businesses, asset managers and depositories, have the most durable earnings because SIP money is contractual and sticky, and that part of the index should hold through an ordinary correction, he said. The turnover-linked businesses, he said, face two risks the current prices do not fully carry.
The first is regulation: cash turnover already dipped and F&O growth was sluggish in FY26 after the derivatives curbs; the second is reflexivity: a 14 per cent Nifty drawdown without retail capitulation is the base case so far, but a deeper fall that raises SIP stoppages would hit turnover and AUM at the same time.

But a recent Phillip Capital note reinforces its bullishness on the broking industry. It initiated coverage on Groww and Anand Rathi with 'Buy' ratings in a September 30 report as it expects these two names to be best positioned to capture the industry's structural shift from transaction-led brokerage to a diversified, recurring-revenue financial-platform model.