New Delhi, July 25 -- A slowdown in new demat accounts openings may appear like a sign that retail investors are losing interest in the stock market, but ClearTax CEO Archit Gupta argues the opposite. According to him, the moderation marks a shift away from speculative trading and towards long-term investing, with rising SIP inflows and capital gains tax filings pointing to a healthier investment ecosystem.

For the past five years, demat account growth remained close to 30% or higher but last year, it slipped below 20% for the first time, Gupta said in a X (formerly Twitter) post, citing data from NSDL and CDSL. Though, most people would assume that retail investors have lost interest, he believes that reading is wrong.

"Most of the mar...