What have investors been buying and selling recently?

Wondering which stocks have been most popular among UK and US investors in the last week? Karl Talbot takes a closer look.

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Drug and research company Synairgen and fashion giant ASOS were the two most popular companies for British investors last week. So what else have investors been buying and selling over the past week or so? And what about American investors? Let’s take a look.

[top_pitch]

What have UK investors been buying and selling?

According to Fineco, Synairgen led the way in UK trading activity last week, with the biotechnology company trading at 100% volume sell.

According to Fineco, Synairgen has been developing an inhaled interferon treatment for Covid-19 since August 2020, which is currently in its phase three trial. The company’s interim results for the six months to the end of June were published on 30 September.

The second most popular company amongst investors was ASOS. Last week, the online retailer traded at 62% volume buy and 38% volume sell.

Fineco reports that the company recently announced plans to invest £14 million in a new tech hub in Belfast, which will lead to the creation of over 180 jobs over the next three years. The hub will be operational in early 2022 and is part of wider strategic plans to provide ASOS with the high-quality engineering resources needed to deliver its international growth plans.

Other popular companies in the UK included Zanaga Iron Ore, Pearson, and British American Tobacco. All three of these companies traded at 100% volume buy.

Covid-19 vaccine producer Moderna was another popular company amongst UK investors, trading at 54% volume buy and 46% volume sell. Moderna’s stock price has slumped in recent days, following research suggesting that a rival producer’s oral antiviral pill can cut the risk of hospitalisation or death from Covid-19 by approximately 50%.

Meanwhile, transport companies were popular sectors for British investors last week. Stagecoach, EasyJet and Wizz Air all witnessed high trading volumes. EasyJet traded at 53% volume buy and 47% volume sell, while fellow low-cost carrier Wizz Air traded at 100% volume sell.

[middle_pitch]

What about trade volumes in the USA?

Across the pond, Marin Software was the top mover both in the US and globally last week. The San Francisco-based online advertising company was trading at 49% volume buy and 51% volume sell.

According to Fineco, these high trade volumes followed a recent company announcement highlighting a new three-year revenue share agreement with Google to develop its enterprise tech platform and software products. Following this agreement, the company will receive revenue payments from Google. This will be based on revenue generated on its own platform in connection with spend on search ads appearing on Google Search. 

Meanwhile, Aterian was the second-highest traded company in the US last week, trading at 100% volume buy. The tech company recently lauded the advantages of its AI-powered e-commerce services.

Sportswear giant Nike was also a big mover among US investors last week, trading at 46% volume buy and 54% volume sell. The company recently lowered its fiscal 2022 outlook to account for the impact of global supply chain disruption through labour shortages and lengthy transit times. Nike shares dropped more than 3% following the announcement.

Big names Uber and Twitter also made the list of biggest movers in the US last week. Uber Technologies traded at 100% volume buy with investors clearly keen to move its stock. On the flip side, Twitter was trading at 100% volume sell.

What is trade volume?

Trade volume refers to the number of shares that have been traded over a set period. Trade volume can measured on stocks, bonds and other commodities. 

‘Buying volume’ simply refers to the number of trades associated whit buying shares. ‘Selling volume’ refers to the number of selling trades. 

Trade volume is important for investors, especially day traders. That’s because a stock with a high trading volume is more liquid, and therefore easier to sell. For more information, see our article that covers what volume is in stock trading.

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