Retail Investors Now Rely on Data for Investing
REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA – The behaviour of retail investors in the stock market is beginning to shift in line with increasingly rapid market dynamics. Investment decisions, which were previously largely driven by instinct and following community trends, are now being replaced by a data-based approach using real-time information.
This change is occurring amid a surge in the number of capital market investors. Data from the Financial Services Authority shows that the number of investors has reached around 24.7 million by early 2026, a significant increase compared to the previous year. Meanwhile, data from the Indonesia Central Securities Depository records that the total number of investors has exceeded 26 million, with around 9 million stock investors.
The rise in the number of investors reflects the growing public interest in investing, but not all investors are prepared to face the increasingly dynamic market movements. Rapid share price fluctuations make instinct-based approaches increasingly risky, as delays in reading momentum often result in buying at high prices and losses when trends reverse.
President Director of PT Indo Premier Sekuritas, Moleonoto The, said that emotional-based trading practices are still common among retail investors. “Many buy based on feeling and sell in panic. Without real-time data, decisions become inaccurate,” said Moleonoto in a statement on Wednesday (6/5/2026).
According to Moleonoto, changes in market character demand that investors make data-based decisions. The speed of reading transactions and confirming market direction become important factors in avoiding investment timing mistakes.
Several stock trading platforms are beginning to utilise analytics technology and artificial intelligence to help investors monitor market activity directly. Real-time transaction monitoring features are now one of the tools used by investors to read market movements more objectively.
In the field, this change in approach is evident from investor behaviour that delays transactions until data confirmation is obtained, and even uses more than one application to ensure market signals. This shift indicates a change from speculation to more measured investment decisions.
Nevertheless, gaps still exist. Investors who have not yet utilised real-time data are considered more vulnerable to short-term market fluctuations.
In a market that is becoming increasingly fast-paced, adaptation to the use of data is expected to be a determining factor for retail investors in maintaining the quality of investment decisions.