EXECUT IVE S UMMARY Firstly I am briefing the current Indian market and compairing it with it past.

I am also giving brief data about foreign market. Then at the last I am giving my suggestions and recommendations. With over 25 million shareholders, India has the third largest investor base in the world after USA and Japan. Over 7500 companies are listed on the Indian stock exchanges (more than the number of companies listed in developed markets of Japan, UK, Germany, France, Australia, Switzerland, Canada and Hong Kong.). The Indian capital market is significant in terms of the degree of development, volume of trading, transparency and its tremendous growth potential. Indias market capitalization was the highest among the emerging markets. Total market capitalization of The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which, as on July 31, 1997, was US$ 175 billion has grown by 37.5% percent every twelve months and was over US$ 834 billion as of January, 2007. Bombay Stock Exchanges (BSE), one of the oldest in the world, accounts for the largest number of listed companies transacting their shares on a nationwide online trading system. The two major exchanges namely the National Stock Exchange (NSE) and the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) ranked no. 3 & 5 in the world, calculated by the number of daily transactions done on the exchanges. The Total Turnover of Indian Financial Markets crossed US$ 2256 billion in 2006 An increase of 82% from US $ 1237 billion in 2004 in a short span of 2 years only. Turnover in the Spot and Derivatives segment both in NSE & BSE was higher by 45% into 2006 as compared to 2005. With daily average volume of US $ 9.4 billion, the Sensex has posted excellent returns in the recent years. Currently the market cap of the Sensex as on July 4th, 2009 was Rs 48.4 Lakh Crore with a P/E of more than 20. Derivatives trading in the stock market have been a subject of enthusiasm of research in the field of finance the most desired instruments that allow market participants to manage risk in the modern securities trading are known as derivatives. The derivatives are defined as the future contracts whose value depends upon the underlying assets. If

derivatives are introduced in the stock market, the underlying asset may be anything as component of stock market like, stock prices or market indices, interest rates, etc. The main logic behind derivatives trading is that derivatives reduce the risk by providing an additional channel to invest with lower trading cost and it facilitates the investors to extend their settlement through the future contracts. It provides extra liquidity in the stock market. Derivatives are assets, which derive their values from an underlying asset. These underlying assets are of various categories like Commodities including grains, coffee beans, etc. Precious metals like gold and silver. Foreign exchange rate. Bonds of different types, including medium to long-term negotiable debt securities issued by governments, companies, etc. Short-term debt securities such as T-bills. Over-The-Counter (OTC) money market products such as loans or deposits. Equities For example, a dollar forward is a derivative contract, which gives the buyer a right & an obligation to buy dollars at some future date. The prices of the derivatives are driven by the spot prices of these underlying assets. However, the most important use of derivatives is in transferring market risk, calledHedging, which is a protection against losses resulting from unforeseen price or volatility changes. Thus, derivatives are a very important tool of risk management. There are various derivative products traded. They are; 1.Forw ards 2.Futures 3.Op tio n s 4.Sw aps

A Forward Contract is a transaction in which the buyer and the seller agree upon a delivery of a specific quality and quantity of asset usually a commodity at a specified future date. The price may be agreed on in advance or in future. A Future contract is a firm contractual agreement between a buyer and seller for a specified as on a fixed date in future. The contract price will vary according to the market place but it is fixed when the trade is made. The contract also has a standard specification so both parties know exactly what is being done. An Options contract confers the right but not the obligation to buy (call option) or sell (put option) a specified underlying instrument or asset at a specified price the Strike or Exercised price up until or an specified future date the Expiry date. The Price is called Premium and is paid by buyer of the option to the seller or writer of the option. A call option gives the holder the right to buy an underlying asset by a certain date for a certain price. The seller is under an obligation to fulfill the contract and is paid a price of this, which is called "the call option premium or call option price". A put option, on the other hand gives the holder the right to sell an underlying asset by a certain date for a certain price. The buyer is under an obligation to fulfill the contract and is paid a price for this, which is called "the put option premium or put option price". Swaps are transactions which obligates the two parties to the contract to exchange a series of cash flows at specified intervals known as payment or settlement dates. They can be regarded as portfolios of forward's contracts. A contract whereby two parties agree to exchange (swap) payments, based on some notional principle amount is called as a SWAP. In case of swap, only the payment flows are exchanged and not the principle amount I had conducted this research to find out whether investing in the derivative market is beneficial or not? You will be glad to know that derivative market in India is the most booming now days. So the person who is ready to take risk and want to gain more should

invest in the derivative market. On the other hand RBI has to play an important role in derivative market. Also SEBI must encourage investment in derivative market so that the investors get the benefit out of it. Sorry to say that today even educated persons are not willing to invest in derivative market because they have the fear of high risk. So, SEBI should take necessary steps for improvement in Derivative Market so that more investors can invest in Derivative market