Indonesia is breaking records, but not in the way you might think. It’s not about the hottest chili or the longest dance marathon—no, Indonesia has increased its number of holidays to the most it’s ever had in a year, clocking in at a whopping 23 days.

Now let’s toss that number next to the US stock market’s holiday calendar and the difference between are quite stark. The US has maintained its days off at an average of 9 days whereas Indonesia averages at 17.

Indonesia has more holidays than the US

Number of stock market holidays of the US vs Indonesia (in days)

The last half decade has been a tough time for investors in emerging markets, with the US equities returns often leaving Indonesia’s in its trail. But there was a glimmer of light in the dark tunnel: In 2022, Indonesia’s Jakarta Composite Index (JCI) outperformed the S&P 500 index with an impressive gain of over 15%.    

Indonesia’s JCI outperformed S&P500 when its holidays were the lowest

Source: Bloomberg

Coincidentally, 2022 was also the year where Indonesia had its lowest number of holidays, almost matching the US’s calendar with 10 and 9 days off respectively.

Perhaps holidays might not be the main driver for market’s outperformance and underperformance, but it does make you ponder: might the market’s ups and downs be tied to how many days traders get to kick back and relax?

Could decreasing the number of holidays be the low hanging fruit ready to be reaped to improve market performance?

Let’s ponder that as we plan our next holiday!

Tara Mulia

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