Series XV
Research Analyst
50 questionsPass mark 60%Negative marking 25% / wrong answer
NISM Series XV practice questions
150 questions. Each answer is explained.
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Learn these topics
Practise one unit at a time
- Introduction to Research Analyst Profession2 questions
- Introduction to Securities Market3 questions
- Terminology in Equity and Debt Markets3 questions
- Fundamentals of Research7 questions
- Economic Analysis7 questions
- Industry Analysis12 questions
- Company Analysis – Business and Governance9 questions
- Company Analysis – Financial Analysis16 questions
- Corporate Actions7 questions
- Valuation Principles13 questions
- Fundamental analysis of commodities9 questions
- Fundamentals of Risk and Return10 questions
- Qualities of a Good Research Report7 questions
- Legal and Regulatory Environment15 questions
- Technical Analysis22 questions
- Case Study - Valuation8 questions
Exam format
| Questions | 100 · 1 mark each |
|---|---|
| Duration | 120 min · 2 hours |
| Pass mark | 60% · 60 of 100 marks |
| Negative marking | 25% · 0.25 marks off per wrong answer |
| Certificate validity | 3 years · from the date of the examination |
NISM Series XV Research Analyst
Exam rules read on NISM's site on 3 October 2026. Exam pattern revised on 20 January 2026. Check the current rules on NISM's site (opens in a new tab)
What these answers assume, and when it was last checked
Each question uses the rules listed below. We last checked them on 5 September 2026. A Budget or SEBI circular can change a rate, lot size or expiry day. If a rule changes before your exam, treat the linked questions as out of date and check NISM's current workbook.
- NSE uses Tuesday expiry and BSE uses Thursday expiry. This applies from 1 September 2025.
- The January 2026 index lot sizes are NIFTY 65, BANKNIFTY 30, FINNIFTY 60, MIDCPNIFTY 120 and NIFTYNXT50 25.
- The October 2024 SEBI framework sets a minimum index contract value of Rs 15–20 lakh. Each exchange may list one weekly benchmark index.
- Option buyers pay the premium upfront from 1 February 2025. A short index option has an extra 2% Extreme Loss Margin on expiry day from 20 November 2024.
- Equity short-term capital gains are taxed at 20%. Long-term gains are taxed at 12.5% above Rs 1.25 lakh. Both rates apply from 23 July 2024.
- F&O income is non-speculative business income in ITR-3. NSE equity derivatives trade from 9:15 a.m. to 3:40 p.m.
- The final ten-minute session began on 3 August 2026. It aligns with the cash market Closing Auction Session.
- Most Securities Transaction Tax questions test the base and who pays. On an option sale, it is the premium and the seller pays. On a futures sale, it is the traded value and the seller pays.
- On exercise, Securities Transaction Tax uses intrinsic value: settlement price minus strike price. The buyer pays it.
- Two questions test the current rate. From 1 April 2026, option sales carry 0.15% on the premium and futures sales carry 0.05% on traded price. The earlier rates were 0.10% and 0.02% from 1 October 2024.
- This section uses the T+1 rolling settlement cycle. Obligations are fixed on T+1. A short delivery goes to buy-in auction on T+1 and settles on T+2.
- The trade-for-trade surveillance segment uses direct close-out. Funds pay in by 10:30 a.m. and pay out on or after 1:30 p.m. on settlement day.
- Securities pay in to the settlement pool by 10:30 a.m. They pay out directly to the client’s demat account by 3:30 p.m.
- The 3:30 p.m. deadline replaced 1:30 p.m. under SEBI’s 10 October 2024 circular. Direct client credit was required by SEBI’s 5 June 2024 circular.
- The optional T+0 cycle trades until 1:30 p.m. Obligations are fixed by 2:30 p.m. on the trade day. An early pay-in shortage is closed out directly.
- Cash-market Value at Risk margin is six times exponentially weighted moving-average volatility. It has a 9% floor for Group I, a 21.5% floor for Group II, and a fixed 50% or 75% level for Group III.
- Extreme Loss Margin is 3.5% for a share and 2% for a broad-market-index exchange traded fund. Mark-to-market margin is collected before the next day’s trading. The trade-for-trade segment has 100% upfront margin.
- Close-out uses the higher of the highest price from trade day to auction day and 20% above the auction day’s official close.
- A funds shortage costs 0.07% a day. The trading facility is withdrawn at a shortage of Rs 5 lakh or more.
- SCORES allows 21 calendar days, then two 15-day review levels. Online Dispute Resolution moves from conciliation to arbitration after the market participant and SCORES steps.
- At NSE, the Investor Protection Fund limit is Rs 35 lakh per investor for each defaulting or expelled member. This applies to claims arising after 13 August 2024.
- A Basic Services Demat Account has no annual maintenance charge up to Rs 4 lakh of holdings. It costs up to Rs 100 above that, until the Rs 10 lakh eligibility ceiling. These slabs apply from 1 September 2024.
- The rupee pairs are USD-INR, EUR-INR, GBP-INR and JPY-INR. The cross-currency pairs are EUR-USD, GBP-USD and USD-JPY.
- Each contract covers 1,000 units of the foreign currency, except JPY-INR. JPY-INR covers 100,000 yen and is quoted in rupees per 100 yen.
- The tick is 0.25 paise, or Rs 0.0025. It equals Rs 2.50 a contract.
- Rupee pairs trade from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. A monthly contract stops trading at 12:30 p.m. two working days before the expiry month’s last business day.
- Final settlement is in cash at the FBIL reference rate on expiry day. FBIL, Financial Benchmarks India, has published this rate in place of the Reserve Bank since 2018. Premium-style European options are quoted in rupees. The buyer pays the premium in cash on T+1.
- Daily settlement is on T+1 and final settlement is on T+2.
- NSE Clearing circular 026/2020 sets SPAN margin plus Extreme Loss Margin. The futures margin is 0.50% for USD-INR, 0.15% for EUR-INR, 0.25% for GBP-INR and 0.35% for JPY-INR. A short option has 0.75%. These figures apply from 1 June 2020.
- A USD-INR client may hold 6% of total open interest or USD 20 million, whichever is higher. A trading member may hold 15% or USD 100 million.
- A resident user has one USD 100 million equivalent limit across all rupee pairs and exchanges. No document is needed below that limit, but a valid underlying contracted exposure must still exist. This clarification applies from 3 May 2024.
- The currency segment has no Securities Transaction Tax.
The exam figures (questions, time, pass mark, negative marking and certificate validity) come from NISM's own pages, read on 3 October 2026. Timed practice uses the same figures. Study with the official workbook as well.
The written-out answers on this page are hidden while your timed set runs.
5 sample questions with answers
The other 145 are on the unit pages above, written out the same way.
Q1During a management meeting, executives repeatedly emphasise an aggressive growth target but provide little evidence about capacity, demand or funding. What should a research analyst do?
Option A. Accept the target as stated, because management always knows the business best
Why it is wrong: Management statements require verification.
Option B. Test the guidance against industry data, past delivery and funding capacity — Correct answer
Option C. Discard all management guidance automatically as unreliable sales talk
Why it is wrong: Guidance can be informative when assessed critically.
Option D. Raise the target even further to avoid appearing too conservative
Why it is wrong: Research estimates should be evidence-based, not shaped by presentation concerns.
Answer: B. Good research requires professional scepticism. Management guidance is an input, not a fact to be accepted or rejected automatically. The analyst should test it against independent evidence and the company’s historical ability to execute. Remember: Management access is useful only when combined with independent verification and disciplined judgement.
Hint, shown before you answer in practice mode: Common mistake: Treating management guidance as either unquestionable fact or worthless information.
XV-064mediumregulatory
Q2Which investor is following a passive investment approach?
Option A. A fund that frequently changes its sector weights to try to outperform its benchmark index
Why it is wrong: Deliberate sector tilts to outperform are active decisions.
Option B. An analyst who selects a concentrated portfolio of undervalued stocks based on detailed company research
Why it is wrong: Concentrated security selection is active investing.
Option C. A trader who changes positions every few days based on short-term price patterns and chart signals
Why it is wrong: Short-term tactical trading is active.
Option D. A fund that seeks to replicate a broad-market index with minimal discretionary security selection — Correct answer
Answer: D. Passive investing generally seeks to track or replicate a benchmark rather than outperform it through continuous discretionary security selection. Active approaches attempt to add value through selection, timing or allocation decisions. Remember: Passive investing focuses on benchmark exposure. Active investing relies on discretionary decisions intended to outperform or achieve a differentiated outcome.
Hint, shown before you answer in practice mode: Common mistake: Equating low trading frequency with passive investing even when security selection is discretionary.
XV-074easyconceptual
Q3The audit committee of a listed company is primarily expected to strengthen oversight of:
Option A. The monetary-policy stance of the RBI and its decisions on the repo rate
Why it is wrong: RBI monetary policy is external to the company.
Option B. Daily product pricing decisions made by the sales team in each regional market
Why it is wrong: Routine sales pricing is an operating-management responsibility.
Option C. The technical chart patterns formed by the company's share price over recent months
Why it is wrong: Technical chart analysis is unrelated to the committee's governance role.
Option D. Financial reporting, internal controls, audit process and auditor independence — Correct answer
Answer: D. An audit committee plays a central governance role in oversight of financial reporting, internal-control systems and the audit relationship, helping protect the integrity of reported information. Remember: Board committees have distinct governance responsibilities. Audit committees focus on reporting and control integrity.
Hint, shown before you answer in practice mode: Common mistake: Confusing board oversight with day-to-day operating management.
XV-040mediumconceptual
Q4A company trades at a P/E of 24 times and its sustainable earnings growth rate is assumed to be 12% per year. Using the conventional PEG calculation with growth entered as 12 rather than 0.12, the PEG ratio is:
Option A. 0.5
Why it is wrong: 0.5 would result from reversing the relationship.
Option B. 1.0
Why it is wrong: A PEG of 1 would require P/E and the percentage growth number to be equal.
Option C. 12.0
Why it is wrong: This is not the result of the stated formula.
Option D. 2.0 — Correct answer
Answer: D. PEG = P/E ÷ Earnings growth rate = 24 ÷ 12 = 2.0 under the stated convention. The PEG ratio is a shorthand comparative metric and does not remove the need to assess growth quality, risk and sustainability. Remember: PEG scales P/E by an assumed earnings-growth rate. The growth assumption is often the weakest input.
Hint, shown before you answer in practice mode: Common mistake: Mixing decimal and whole-percentage conventions in the growth denominator.
XV-086mediumnumerical
Q5A report gives a target price based on three years of forecasts. Which addition would most improve the report’s analytical quality?
Option A. A list of only the positive catalysts that could push the price up
Why it is wrong: Only positive catalysts create an unbalanced presentation.
Option B. A promise that the target price will be reached within the three years
Why it is wrong: Target prices are estimates, not promises.
Option C. Removal of all alternative scenarios so the message stays simple
Why it is wrong: Alternative scenarios can be useful for understanding uncertainty.
Option D. Key assumptions, risks, catalysts and what could break the thesis — Correct answer
Answer: D. A strong report should expose the assumptions behind its valuation and discuss both upside drivers and material risks, including what evidence would cause the analyst to revisit the thesis. This makes the research testable rather than promotional. Remember: Good research is falsifiable: it states the assumptions and evidence that would change the conclusion.
Hint, shown before you answer in practice mode: Common mistake: Writing a persuasive narrative without specifying what could make it wrong.
XV-094hardconceptual
NISM Series XV practice: common questions
Are these the real NISM Series XV exam questions?
No. LearnNifty wrote every question from NISM's public syllabus. NISM does not publish its question bank, so nobody can offer you the real paper. Use these questions to check that an idea has gone in. Use the official NISM workbook to see what is examined.
How many practice questions are there for NISM Series XV?
150 at the moment, across 16 practice topics, with one page per unit. It is a practice set, not a copy of the paper: the real NISM-Series-XV: Research Analyst Certification Examination has 100 questions.
Where are all the questions and answers?
On the 16 practice topics listed above. There are 5 in full. Each unit's page has the rest, with all four options, the correct answer and why each other option is wrong.
Does negative marking apply to NISM Series XV?
Yes. NISM takes off 25% of a question's marks for a wrong answer. On a 1-mark question that is 0.25 marks off. A blank question earns nothing and loses nothing, so a wrong guess costs marks on this paper. Timed practice here uses the same rule.
How do I book the NISM Series XV exam?
You register and pay on NISM's own website, nism.ac.in. The steps and the fee change from time to time, so read them there on the day you book.
Are these practice questions kept up to date?
Each question is written against the rules printed on this page, last checked on 5 September 2026. A Budget or a SEBI circular can change a rate, a lot size or an expiry day. If one of those rules changes before your exam, treat the questions that use it as out of date. Then check NISM's current workbook.
See the exam these questions follow
The Research Analyst exam page shows the question count, the time, the pass mark and the marking rule.
Open the NISM Series XV exam page