Tale of the Tape 

Good evening ya’ll!

Markets FINALLY snapped an eight-day losing streak with the Nifty and Sensex soaring ~1% each. A combination of heavyweight buying + rally in banking stocks lifted the indices. Broader markets joined the party too as Midcaps (+0.9%) and Smallcaps (+1.1%) saw strong buying. A cool 359 stocks in the NSE 500 ended higher.

Except PSU Banks (-0.4%) every other sector ended in the green. Banking (+1.3%) and Pharma (+1.3%) stocks led the rally.

In today’s issue of the Daily Rip, we look at Zerodha’s big pivot, Belrise Industries bull case, RBI policy insights, Shriram Finance’s acquisition buzz and more.

Honourable Mentions:

Tata Motors (+6%) was the top Nifty gainer after announcing October 14 as the record date for its CV demerger. Separately - domestic PV sales jumped +45% YoY in September. Vikram Solar jumped +5% after global brokerage firm UBS said it sees a further +7% upside from current levels.

Check out the NSE 500 heatmap:

Market
Winds Of Change

Are the good times for India’s new-age discount brokers over? Yes, says Zerodha’s Nithin Kamath who is gearing up for a BIG hit to both revenue & profitability. Brokers and exchanges are a good signal for how markets are going, so here’s a look at Zerodha’s slump. 

The major problem is that the F&O party is officially over. Equity derivatives contributed MASSIVELY to the firm’s trading volumes and that tap has been turned off by SEBI. First, there was the increase in STT (securities transaction tax) on options. Then the reduction of expiries to just two weekly contracts. On top of these two things, it was also hit by:

• Removal of exchange transaction charges rebate

• A bump in the BSDA (basic services demat account) limit

• A decline in trading interest due to bear market conditions.

As a result, Zerodha recorded a whopping -40% YoY drop in brokerage revenue for the June quarter. New accounts created also peaked in February 2024, which is when the company made openings 100% free. 

So if Zerodha has officially peaked, where does it stand and where does it go from here? Well, assets held by its customers account for ~10% of all retail + HNI AUM. That’s not bad at all. Kamath says though the “time has finally come for business to pivot”. He doesn’t offer details, but some of the signs have been pretty clear. 

Over the last couple years the company has been building out its asset management vertical. FYI - its mutual fund biz hit ~Rs 8,000-cr in AUM as of September 2025. Newer products with more lucrative margins will also likely be a focus. Zerodha’s margin trading facility has gotten a ~5% market share with a book size of Rs 5,000-cr.

Specials
Rally In VodaIdea Share!

VodaIdea has rallied ~30% in the last month. Is it a sign of changing fortunes or just wild speculation? We break down all the latest news, industry developments and brokerage ratings in our latest video. Miss it at your own expense!