The ₹1.6 Lakh Crore Intraday Giant: How a Gurgaon-Based HFT Firm Reshaped India’s Cash Market in 2025
Graviton Research a Gurgaon based HFT Trading firm, a stock market trading company has quietly become one of the most influential forces in India’s intraday equity market. Graviton Research, a proprietary quantitative trading firm, executed intraday trades worth nearly ₹1.6 lakh crore in 2025, placing it among the most dominant participants in the cash segment.
An analysis of bulk deal disclosures on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) reveals that the firm carried out over 1,900 large intraday trades during the year. These figures, compiled from publicly available exchange data and reported by Moneycontrol, offer a rare glimpse into the scale at which algorithm-driven proprietary traders now operate in India’s equity markets.
Massive Trades, Limited Visibility
Each Graviton transaction averaged about ₹85 crore, with 458 trades exceeding ₹100 crore in value. It is important to note that these numbers only capture trades classified as bulk deals—defined by the NSE as transactions involving more than 0.5% of a company’s equity in a single trading session. The firm’s total trading activity is therefore likely much larger.
For context, the NSE recorded approximately 17,500 bulk deals in 2025. Graviton alone accounted for over 10% of these transactions. In value terms, total bulk deal turnover on the exchange stood at roughly ₹6.8 lakh crore, of which Graviton represented an impressive 24% share—a striking concentration in a market crowded with thousands of domestic proprietary desks and more than 12,000 foreign institutional investors.
Focus on Mid- and Small-Cap Stocks
Unlike traditional large institutional investors, Graviton has largely stayed away from heavyweight large-cap stocks. Its activity has been concentrated in mid- and small-cap companies, where intraday price movements tend to be sharper and liquidity conditions can change rapidly.
Market participants note that such trading has dual effects. On one hand, large intraday volumes improve liquidity in relatively illiquid stocks. On the other, they can amplify short-term volatility, raising impact costs for other market participants, especially retail traders.
High Success Rate, Thin Margins
A deeper dive into the data highlights Graviton’s remarkably high trade accuracy. In trades exceeding ₹100 crore, the firm reportedly generated profits in over 90% of cases—a stark contrast to retail intraday traders, whose success rates typically fall between 30% and 50%.
Despite this consistency, the absolute profits from these large cash-market trades were modest. Total gains from the 458 biggest transactions were estimated at around ₹24 crore, indicating that the firm operates on very thin spreads. Market experts suggest that Graviton’s real earnings potential may lie beyond the cash market, particularly in the futures and options (F&O) segment, where algorithmic strategies often scale more efficiently.
For reference, SEBI data has shown that more than 90% of retail participants in the F&O market incur losses, effectively transferring wealth to sophisticated counterparties such as HFTs and institutional traders.
(Read more about market regulation at the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).)
Regulatory Attention and Financial Growth
The firm’s rapid rise has not gone unnoticed. In October 2025, Income Tax authorities conducted searches at Graviton’s offices. Media reports quoted the firm as stating it was fully compliant with all applicable laws and regulations.
Separately, Moneycontrol reported that Graviton was among 10 major trading entities reviewed by SEBI, alongside global trading giant Jane Street. While no formal investigation has been announced so far, regulatory scrutiny reflects the growing influence of algorithmic and high-frequency traders in Indian markets.
Financially, the firm appears to be thriving. Reports indicate that Graviton posted a 67% year-on-year jump in profits in FY25, with net profit reaching approximately ₹1,010 crore.
Inside Graviton Research
Founded in 2014 by Ankit Gupta and Nishil Gupta, both IIT-trained engineers, Graviton Research operates as a privately funded proprietary trading firm. This means it trades exclusively using its own capital rather than managing client funds.
The company describes itself as a quantitative research-driven trading firm, deploying advanced algorithms, data science models, and artificial intelligence tools to identify short-term market inefficiencies. While it remains unclear whether the firm handles any external capital, industry insiders say its technology stack rivals that of global HFT players.
Stock Choices and Volatility Patterns
Graviton’s stock selection offers further insight into its trading philosophy. The firm frequently trades stocks already experiencing heightened volatility, often reinforcing sharp intraday moves through sheer volume.
On days when Graviton executed large intraday trades, the average stock price movement was about 5.1%. In 160 out of 458 major trades, the stock moved more than 10% during the session—either upward or downward.
Notable Examples:
- IndusInd Bank (March 11): Traded shares worth over ₹400 crore, earning a modest profit of ₹15 lakh on a day the stock crashed 27% following disclosures of derivatives-related discrepancies.
- Naveen Fluorine International (January 9): Generated a profit of ₹5.2 crore as the stock rose 9.5%.
- Cyient Technologies (January 24): Booked a ₹9 crore loss after the stock plunged 24% following the resignation of its CEO.
Most Traded Stocks
Among individual stocks, Netweb Technologies emerged as Graviton’s most frequently traded counter, with at least 24 intraday trades during the year. Other regularly traded names included Aegis Logistics, CreditAccess Grameen, and Jupiter Wagons—all companies known for sharp price reactions to news and order flows.
Why This Matters
The rise of firms like Graviton underscores a structural shift in Indian markets, where speed, data, and algorithms increasingly determine outcomes. While such players add liquidity and efficiency, their dominance also raises questions about fairness, transparency, and the long-term participation of retail investors.
As India’s equity markets deepen and technology advances, the role of high-frequency and quantitative trading firms is likely to expand—making regulatory oversight, investor awareness, and risk management more critical than ever.
