By Hannah Erin Lang
This month's bumpy ride for stocks has affected a group of typically aggressive buyers: individual investors.
After rushing into markets at the start of the year, the volatility resulting from the war with Iran has cooled individual traders' enthusiasm for equities:
-- Individual investors were net sellers of stocks on Monday-the first day of net retail selling since 2023, according to Vanda Research. "The trend since the start of March has been one of gradually receding retail participation," analysts wrote.
-- Retail flows into single stocks and exchange-traded funds have tumbled 43% since the start of the conflict, according to a Thursday report from JPMorgan analysts.
-- A Monday note from Citadel Securities also showed that retail buying had moderated.
Individual investors have been some of the market's most reliable buyers during recent dips, helping drive rebounds from February's software selloff and the so-called Liberation Day tariff turmoil last spring.
But a sustained climb in oil prices could change that: JPMorgan analysts pointed to 2022, when energy costs climbed after the Russian invasion of Ukraine and inflation skyrocketed. Individual investors' portfolios were dinged, and they pulled back from markets for a while.
A bounce this week could restart the retail buying spree. But if individual investors dialed back trading, it could have a meaningful impact on the market: At the end of last year, retail traders made up just under 20% of trading volumes at market-maker Citadel, according to the company.
This item is part of a Wall Street Journal live coverage event. The full stream can be found by searching P/WSJL (WSJ Live Coverage).
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 24, 2026 14:19 ET (18:19 GMT)
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