Retail buys, but stake declines

Retail ownership of the BSE500 has fallen from 21 per cent in 2005 to 14 per cent now despite net buying

Retail participation in equity markets shot up in India last year, like in most countries. Retail share of trading jumped from around 50 per cent to about 70 per cent. It was widely expected to be temporary, driven by individuals who not only had forced savings (due to the lockdowns) to deploy in a low-bank-deposit-rate environment, but also had free time to trade, and benefited from the sharp rebound in markets in the second half. 

However, this explanation of the retail-trading surge was mistaken on at least the first count, as even after the economy has mostly opened up, trading activity