The global health crisis over the past few years inadvertently kicked off a worldwide experiment in alternative work. The experience altered the preferences and expectations of many employees and delivered unexpected potential benefits with stock market business providing good profits for youngsters who could earn good profits away from the glaring eyes of their bosses. However, with everyday life returning to normalcy the stock market business has witnessed a new low. According to a Economic Times report, the number of active clients on NSE continued to reduce for the ninth consecutive month in March to 3.27 crore, a decline of 53 lakhs from 3.8 crore investors in June 2022. Secondly, the retail crowd is not as excited about trading as they were when work from home was more common during the lockdown phase.
Market insiders note that the sideways-to-downtrend movement of Nifty in the last one-and-a-half years is gradually throwing weak hands out of the Street.Some of the inexperienced traders, who were dreaming of becoming crorepatis overnight following the one-way rally seen after the Covid crash, have realised that the business of trading and investing might look simple but is not easy.A typical novice trader starts in a bull market with a small capital, buys stocks based on tips, trades frequently and then exits at a loss yelling "market bekar hai (the market is bad)".Sonam Srivastava, Founder at Wright Research, points out that the growing attractiveness of fixed-income investments, offering stable returns and lower risk, has also shifted the focus towards bonds and fixed deposits. Further, the rise of alternative asset classes like cryptocurrencies and real estate has provided new investment opportunities with high return potential and diversification benefits. While the direct participation of retail investors on Dalal Street has reduced, money is freely pouring into mutual funds. On the back of record-high levels of SIP flow worth nearly Rs 14,300 crore, the net inflow in equity mutual funds rose to a one-year level of Rs 20,190 crore in March.