A Guide to Stock Trading Platforms6-min read

An Introduction to the Best Stock Brokers in India

Before learning about the best stock brokers in India, you need to know what a trading platform is. Without stock trading platforms, buying and selling stocks would be as difficult as having to purchase stocks through the phone back in the late 90’s. Luckily enough, the digital revolution has cleared the way for transparent, efficient and convenient stocks purchases plus access to a suite of useful financial tools and asset classes.

In simplicity, a stock trading platform is an online trading system where a computer and an internet connection are needed to execute the trading of company stocks. In this guide, you will learn what a trading platform is about, the best online stock trading platforms in India, and how to use stock trading platforms.

Best Online Trading Platforms for Stocks in India and Abroad for March 2023

Libertex, Saxobank, Zerodha, and others are considered the best stock trading platforms in India because of their market-leading qualities and unique selling points.

They offer technical indicators and chart types that make it easier for traders to carry out trades without issues. They also offer a variety of market watch lists, trade reports, funds management, and other essential services. Above all, they also offer educational resources to those who might be interested in learning and practising at the same time.

The following stock trading platforms have been reviewed by their past users, who consider them excellent platforms for beginners and experts alike.

What Is an Online Stock Broker?

An online broker is an intermediary between you and the market instead of traditional brick-and-mortar brokers.

An online broker helps you to sell and buy shares, stocks, and other assets in the stock market. However, since they operate online, you do not need to see them face to face to sell and buy stocks. Besides helping individuals buy and sell stocks, online stock brokers also offer educational services to users.

For beginners, they are some online stock brokers that offer educational resources that will help you learn some effective skills needed to trade stocks. In fact, a way of evaluating the best online stock trading platforms is by the educational resources they offer to their users given that a focus on well-educated and informed investors inherently reflects well on their priorities.

Stock trading has created massive amounts of wealth, which can be verified through the lives of those who have made and maintained their own personal fortunes by trading stocks. Investors such as Ray Dalio and Warren Buffet are on the list of people who have made huge money through stock trading and have published widely about their tactics and strategies on how to tackle the market well.

Why You Should Invest

There are many reasons why you need to invest your money in stocks and other assets.

However, the primary contemporary reason is the high rate of inflation in the global economy; not investing your money through the best stock trading platform is not advisable as any funds held in liquid assets (money) will be swiftly eaten away due to a weakening currency and the rapidly rising cost of living. Financial analysts and experts have pointed out how the dollar and other major currencies have fallen in value due to inflation.

With Covid-19 and the Russia-Ukraine war, things have only gotten worse regarding inflation. So, a significant way of fighting inflation is by investing in credible stocks that will grow in value and appreciate as time passes.

Investing in stocks through the best online stock trading platforms does not mean you should put all your assets. A portion of your money is advisable; investing what you can afford to lose is recommended. You may suffer losses; invest what you can afford to lose.

A Beginners Guide to Investing Through an Online Broker

The features and what you want to use over the span of your investing journey determine your ideal online stock broker. Registration, withdrawal and deposit might slightly differ according to stock trading platforms. Some trading platforms may offer demo accounts while others may require a hefty initial investment.

Someone who wants to be a passive stock trader might not use or have the same trading platform as another who wants to be an active trader. Whether passive or active, the main steps that any potential client of a trading platform has to go through are

• Creating an account,
• Depositing funds,
• Purchasing assets.

Creating an account may differ depending on the different services offered by the best stock trading platforms. You will need to provide personal details such as your name, date of birth, address, phone number, and email address. You should also need to complete a Know Your Customer (KYC) process to get your account approved.

Depending on the platform, you can deposit funds and purchase the stocks available in the market using supported payment options.

What Makes a Good Investment

The following are some of the things that help you figure out if an asset or stock will make a good investment or not.

• If a stock is in high demand in the market, there are chances that its value will increase.
• If the parent company of a stock is an industry leader, the stock has a higher chance of performing well.
• When a stock parent company makes enormous profits, the stock will likely be a good investment.
• Companies that offer great products and services often have stocks that are performing well.

Even if you are trading with the best online stock trading platform, you still need to be cautious about how you make investments.

There is no outstanding stock due to the market’s volatility; the price of stocks can go up or down at any moment.

Therefore, a good investor can take measures by diversifying their portfolio; this will help to mitigate losses.

If, for instance, you have about 100 thousand Indian rupees to invest, you can spread your investment across three different assets instead of focusing on one.

What Are the Signs of a Reputable and Responsible Broker?

There are many things which the best stock trading platforms have that mediocre platforms do not have.

• Good reviews
• KYC
• License
• Transparency
• Educational resources

Good reviews are the major factor when looking for the best online stock trading platforms.

When you read the opinions of users who have traded on a platform in the past, you can easily decide whether to trade there or not. When a stock trading platform has a bad review, it is not advisable to trade on such a platform.

Know Your Customer (KYC) can also decide if a stock trading platform is trustworthy or not. Often, bad or scammy trading platforms do not bother to know and verify the identity of their users.

License is another factor to consider; it makes no sense to trade and invest your money into a platform that does not have the appropriate licenses. A reputable stock trading platform should be registered and given licenses by the appropriate authorities or government commissions.

Credibility and transparency are other traits seen among the best stock trading platforms.

A stock trading platform should be transparent with its pricing plans; there should be no hidden fees.

Although this is often overlooked by many users, especially experts, educational resources are another vital sign for which a stock trading platform is responsible. Beginners in stock trading often use such educational resources to improve their trading skills.

Vetting Our Recommended Brokers

All the best stock trading platforms we listed above have been thoroughly reviewed and used by us before recommending them to you.

We registered with each stock trading platform and purchased stocks with them. So, any recommendations we make come from direct experience, not from proxies.

We ensure that our review site considers each feedback our audience has to make before recommending a stockbroker. Review sites are very important both as a beginner and an expert since they help you decide on the best online stock trading platforms to use.

The Methodology We Use

Before recommending stock trading platforms to our readers, we have factors we use in ranking them.

• Portfolio management and analysis.
• Educational resources and materials.
• Security and transparency.
• Customer service.
• User interface.
• Trading technology.
• Costs and fees are among the things that we use in determining the best stock trading platforms.

Red Flags: Traits of an Untrustworthy Broker

Every industry has excellent and reputable brands, and they are scammers looking for users to exploit.

For a very unregulated and volatile market like the stock market, you should look out for the traits of an untrustworthy stock broker.

Lack of education materials
A stock trading platform should be avoided if it lacks resources that experts and beginners can use while trading.

Lack of transparency
An untrustworthy stock broker often has hidden fees on their pricing structure. A trait such as this is devoid of the best stock trading platforms.

No KYC
The bad stock trading platform often does not bother to verify the identity of their customers or personal details.

Bad Reviews
A review site is an asset for stock traders because it is where you fish out bad and irresponsible stock brokers from the good ones. Untrustworthy stock brokers mostly have bad reviews.

No license
Most illegitimate stock brokers do not usually have the license to operate as a stock trading platform.

Automated Stock Trading

When people say machines will soon replace humans, they also refer to stock trading. Automated trading is now becoming widely accepted as its numerous benefits are getting noticed even by beginners. In fact, during times of economic volatility, experts argue that stock trading bot software might be the only recourse for generating considerable ROI, as these bots will carry out several trades per second which – over time – would amount to much more than one would expect to garner

Automated trading is simply the use of a bot which has been programmed using a specific programming language to trade. It is a form of algorithmic trading in both crypto and traditional stock markets. On the other hand, crypto trading bots are the primary form of automated trading in the crypto market.

On the traditional stock market, stock trading bots are used by traders to carry out trades without needing to be present. With time, it is speculated that the automated trading system will make hedge fund companies irrelevant to traders.

Many investors have used Aladdin, BlackRock’s automated trading bot, to make a huge amount of money in the stock trading market. Despite having its AUD valued at 10 trillion USD, BlackRock technology is increasingly used by the general public. While using automated trading bots, you still have to use those recommended by review sites.

Taxation on Brokered Assets

Stocks are taxed once you make a profit while trading in the stock market; this differs depending on the country. Capital gain tax is the name given to the taxes you pay when you profit from trading stocks.

Short-term capital gains tax and long term capital gains tax are the two major types of taxes stock traders must pay.

Investing Responsibly

As a stock investor, you need to be cautious about the type of assets you invest in and how you invest in them. A little error with your chosen assets and how you invest in them can lead to massive losses.

We recommend that you diversify your portfolio whenever you are investing, and you should also use the best stock trading platforms.

Latest Updates

The global market for online trading platforms is set to experience a massive growth of USD 2.66 billion between 2021 and 2026, with a projected CAGR of 7.67% during the forecast period. Technavio has identified several key drivers behind this growth, including the increasing demand for online trading platforms in APAC, growing digitization globally, and a rise in demand for personalized trading platforms from end-users.

Market vendors are taking notice and actively seeking to capitalize on the growth potential of emerging markets such as APAC. They’re developing cutting-edge solutions for online trading to enable companies involved in trading activities to understand regional market trends. Startups are also getting in on the action, providing advanced trading solutions to help companies optimize their trading outcomes. As vendors continue to focus on developing innovative product portfolios for online trading platforms in APAC, market growth is set to continue during the forecast period.

Conclusion

Stock trading can be a lucrative business venture, but it also carries with it a high degree of risk. Knowing the ins and outs of the various trading platforms will give you an edge when navigating the stock market. Understanding the differences between trading platforms so you can choose the right one for your needs.

Long-term trading strategies can help guide your decisions and increase your profits. Essential tips for success in stock trading include having a solid plan in place, approaching trading with a business mindset, utilizing current technology, and having a cautious yet calculated approach. It is also important to only invest what you can comfortably handle, always use stop-loss orders, and know when to exit the market.

Major Takeaways

• Saxobank, Libertex, and others mentioned above are examples of the best online stock trading platforms.
• An online broker is an intermediary needed for online stock trading to occur.
• Reviews are primary ways of determining excellent and reputable trading platforms.
• Automated trading is gaining wider acceptance and usage.