Stock and Forex trading have become a trendy activity for many wealthy Indian residents nowadays, and due to the recent news from abroad retail trading became even more popular.
With the second largest population in the world and a ramping growth in national economy, India result as one of the most coveted country for brokerage services around the world, and you can now find online an incredible amounts of names and firms regarding the topic
But not many of them are worth a look.
That’s why we decided to draw up a list of the best brokers for stock and Forex trading in India.
Before You Start
In order to start trading in a financial market, you will have to sign up for a trading account with a broker.
While there are plenty of brokers available in India for this purpose, usually this procedure is quite standard. Before starting with a trading account you will have to provide the brokerage service:
- A proof of identity: a recognizable ID such as a driving license or (preferably) a passport.
- A proof of residence: any official document which includes your current address like for example a bank statement.
Regulation in India
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is the main financial regulatory body in India.
It was established in 1992 in accordance with the provisions of the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act and descries it basic functions as: “[…] to protect the interests of investors in securities and to promote the development of, and to regulate the securities market and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto”.
While stock trading is commonly accepted, there are still uncertainty by many people regarding the fact that Forex trading may be or not be legal in the country.
Plain and straight answer for that question is: yes, Forex trading is legal in India. But there are some specific compliance rules to follow in order to not commit any illegal act.
As for many other countries, trading in India is regulated by a national regulatory body which is the aforementioned. The main difference is that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has made trading with some specific currencies and the national currency of the country, the Indian Rupee (INR), illegal. This decision was taken for fear of devaluing the Indian currency.
The only INR based pairs are allowed only with major currency such as:
- EUR
- USD
- GBP
- JPY
Recently, the Indian government has also introduced the possibility of doing trades between other major FX pairs, such as GBP/USD, EUR/USD and USD/JPY.
Trading Platform Implemented
Your trading account will be used to access a trading platform, which are often provided by the same broker with whom you signed the contract.
There are many different trading platforms available nowadays but they can be divided in two main categories:
- Proprietary trading platforms: those are trading platforms owned and developed by the same brokerage service involved with your trading account. Trading platforms such as the eToro platform are in this category.
- Mainstream trading platforms: those are trading platforms not owned or developed by a specific brokerage service and refer to mainstream trading platforms actually available on the market. Trading platforms such as MT4 or MT5 are in this category.
Trading Techniques Available
Every trading platform has their pros and cons, but you should choose your broker on the basis of your main trading techniques.
Before opening a trading account with some broker instead of another you should ask yourself: is this the right choice for my trading style? Is it allowed to perform certain techniques?
If the answer is yes, then you’ll know that’s the right broker for you.
Top 5 Stock/Forex Brokers In India
With that being said, by following the criteria expressed in the last paragraphs, let’s see together which ones are the best brokers available in 2021 for trading today in India.
- Alpari
Alpari takes the first spot of our rank and is our main choice for both stock and Forex trading.
Regarding Forex trading, we have to highlight the fact that Alpari is the only international brokerage service regulated by SEBI for Indian traders. They also comply with other international regulatory bodies such as the FSC..
Alas, many other top tier regulatory bodies revoked their licenses to Alpari due to its infamous 2051 bankruptcy, from which they recovered completely.
If you are interested in opening a trading account with Alpari, you can choose from one of their three trading accounts:
- Standard Account: it requires a minimum deposit of only 5 USD
- ECN Account: it requires a minimum deposit of 500 USD
- Micro Account: it requires a minimum deposit of 100 USD
Once you have chosen one of the abovementioned accounts, you’ll have access to many financial markets and a vast selection of instruments from which you may choose to invest. Those include:
- Shares
- FX pairs
- Indices
Remember that no INR currency pairs are available with this brokerage service because of the national compliance regarding these financial assets.
IC Markets give also the chance to their customers to use Copy Trading, enabling their traders to perform this and other advanced forms of automated trading, facilitated by the use of two of the main international trading platforms on the market: MetaTrader4 and MetaTrader5.
Thanks to this brokerage service, you will access to light-fast orders, low spreads and even 0 pips.
BASIC INFO
- Regulated by: SEBI, CBR, Offshore, FSC (Mauritius)
- Trading Platforms Available: Mirror Trader, MT4 Desktop, MT4 Web, MT5 Desktop, MT5 Web, MAC Platforms, Sirix
- Leverage: yes
- Minimum Deposit Required: 5 USD
- XM
XM broker is one of the main brokerage services of the country and, although the fact that it does not offer any INR currency pairs, their service is particularly appreciated for both Forex and stock trading.
They are a well regulated broker and it complies with some of the most important international regulatory bodies.
Since it started in 2009, there have been millions of customers around the world that opened a trading account with XM, selecting one of their main trading accounts. To put into perspective: their clients come from over 196 countries and their staff speak over 30 languages in total.
The trading accounts included in their offer are:
- Micro Accounts: minimum deposit required is 5 USD, it includes the possibility of choosing an Islamic account and has spreads as low as 1.0 pip. No commissions per trade.
- Standard Accounts: minimum deposit required is 5 USD, it includes the possibility of choosing an Islamic account and has spreads as low as 1.0 pip. No commission per trade.
- XM Zero Accounts: minimum deposit required is 100 USD, it includes the possibility of choosing an Islamic account and has spreads as low as 0 pip. Commissions are required for trading.
Once you decide to open one between these accounts, you’ll have the chance to see how much this broker decided to invest in their traders. XM offers customer service in more that 25 languages, an incredible amount of free online courses and info regarding trading.
When you open one of the trading platforms offered by the broker, you will have access to many markets. Between them you will have the chance to try out many different assets in which you may decide to invest, such as:
- Shares
- FX Pairs
- Indices
- Commodities
- Metals
- Energies
Finally, XM also gives the possibility to use copy trading, which is an extremely valuable feature for many traders, especially for those at a beginner level.
BASIC INFO
- Regulated by: MIFID-ESMA, ASIC, CySEC
- Trading Platforms Available: MT4 Desktop, MT4 Web, MT5 Desktop, MT5 Web, MAC Platforms
- Leverage: yes
- Minimum Deposit Required: 5 USD
- eToro
An international brokerage service which sees its foundation date in 2008, in Israel.
While being probably one of the most important and known brokers in Europe and in many parts of the Western world, eToro started to become relevant also in Asia, therefore in India too.
This brokerage service complies with many top tier regulatory bodies, which include also names such as CySEC and ASIC.
As of today, their name is linked mainly to two features which made it today the name eToro so famous all around the world:
- Social Trading: it mixes-up features and concepts taken by the world of social networks with those from the investing and trading world.
- Copy Trading: it makes you copy an eToro trader’s portfolio in order to open automatically every position present in it, plus any other position opened in the future.
If you want to start investing with eToro, you’ll have to start with a minimum deposit of at least $200. They have a variety of different accounts from which you can choose, and it comprehends:
- Standard Account: includes all the eToro standard features and requires a 200 USD minimum deposit.
- Islamic Account: it complies with the Sharia and does not charge any swap fee. It requires a 1,000 USD minimum deposit.
- Professional Account: it includes many additional benefits, such as a dedicated account manager, a higher leverage which may reach up to 400:1, and many competitive spreads and fees for the Forex market. Plus, it removes any negative balance protection.
- eToro Club: this is a new addition made by eToro which consists in a premium program that grants access to many perks based on your account level. These levels are divided in different tiers called: Silver, Gold, Platinum, Platinum+ and Diamond.
Once we decided which account fits your trading style and needs, you will have access to a multitude of assets and different markets, which include:
- Shares
- FX Pairs
- Commodities
- Indices
- Cryptos
- ETFs
The proprietary eToro platform is considered particularly user-friendly, and it’s often chosen by inexperienced traders thanks to the fact that it’s quite simple to operate with it.
BASIC INFO:
- Regulated by: FCA, CFTC, MIFID-ESMA, ASIC, CYSEC
- Trading Platforms Available: Proprietary Web Platform
- Leverage: yes
- Minimum Deposit Required: 200 USD
- Pepperstone
Founded in 2010 in Melbourne, it is an internationally renowned broker with many awards won during its +10 year of activity.
This broker is regulated by many important regulatory bodies such as the Australian ASIC and the British FCA, plus other extremely relevant financial entities across the world. Their presence is extremely strong in English-majority speaking countries, and since a few years they also started to expand their activities more and more in Asian territories, India included.
To protect their traders’ funds, they implemented the usage of segregated client bank accounts, which means that their customer money is divided between many top tier regulated banks. This is a fair and common methodology of fund protection for many important brokers, and it avoids the many risks coming from some unfortunate events such as bankruptcy or events alike..
To start trading with a Pepperstone trading account you will have to deposit at least 200 USD. Their major accounts already available for Indian customers are:
- Pepperstone Standard Account: a trading account which offer average spreads and no trading commissions
- Pepperstone ECN Razor: a trading account which offer special low spreads but requires to pay trading commissions
These accounts can be used in one of their trading platforms included in the subscription with the broker such as the MetaQuotes trading platforms MetaTrader 4 and 5, or the famous ZuluTrade.
While using one of those platforms, you will have access to many financial assets such as.:
- FX Pairs
- Shares
- Commodities
- Cryptos
- Indices
INR currency pairs are, again, excluded from the Forex markets, because of the financial subjects expressed at the start of this guide.
Finally, you’ll also have access to many analysis and useful insights provided by the famous Australian broker. All of the market news, webinars and trading guides are free and included in the Pepperstone offer once opened an account with them.
BASIC INFO
- Regulated by: ASIC, FCA, MIFID-ESMA, DFSA, CYSEC, Offshore
- Trading Platforms Available: cTrader desktop, cTrader web, ZuluTrade, MT4 Desktop, MT4 Web, MT5 Desktop, MT5 Web, MAC Platforms
- Leverage: yes
- Minimum Deposit Required: 200 USD