The ASX started the year with one of its best opening-month performances in years, with the key ASX 200 index advancing 5%, despite a modest drop in the last week of January amid the Coronavirus outbreak.

The best-performing areas of the market were the IT, consumer staple, and health care sectors. Each of these areas posted strong gains, above the increase in the broader market. On the contrary, there was weakness in the energy, industrial and utilities sectors, with various companies from these segments issuing profit downgrades or feeling the brunt of a decline in the price of oil.

Here is what the Selfwealth community were buying and selling through their Selfwealth trading accounts during January.

Which shares and ETFs were the most held?

There were some minor adjustments to the leading shares held across the Selfwealth community last month, with the addition of a couple new stocks, as well as some changes to the rankings.

Extending its lead at the top of the rankings was CSL Limited (ASX: CSL), with the total value of shares held in the blue-chip favourite increasing by over 10%. The surge in value was attributed to an increase in ownership among the number of Selfwealth members with the stock in their portfolio, as well as a strong underlying gain in trading. The stock was a beneficiary of positive market sentiment early through the month, in addition to some defensive repositioning' as the Coronavirus began to grip the market towards the end of the month.While the other major banks saw an increase in their respective community ownership, Westpac (ASX: WBC) and ANZ (ASX: ANZ) shares bucked the trend and actually decreased in value across the Selfwealth platform. Although these shares managed to gain 3.7% and 4.6% respectively throughout the month, it is likely that some investors may have switched their exposure towards other stocks.The remarkable growth in Neuren Pharmaceuticals (ASX: NEU) holdings continued once again, climbing one place to become the 6th most-held stock among Selfwealth members. The collective value of shares held across the community increased by almost 20%, with the stock rallying 14.1% during January. At the end of the month, over 10% of the company market cap was held via Selfwealth trading accounts.Further down the list, shares in Selfwealth (ASX: SWF) and Fortescue Metals Group (ASX: FMG) edged their way into the top 20, in the process dislodging Ramsay Health Care (ASX: RHC) and A2 Milk (ASX: A2M). In the case of SWF shares, the value increase was attributed to the activity of a select number of holders, whereas in the case of FMG, the company significant share rally in the first half of the month fuelled that growth while also prompting higher buying activity.StockCompany1CSLCSL Limited2CBACommonwealth Bank3WBCWestpac4NABNational Australia Bank5AFIAustralian Foundation Inv6NEUNeuren Pharmaceuticals7ANZAustralia and New Zealand Banking Group8MQGMacquarie Group9TLSTelstra10BHPBHP11ARGArgo Investments12MLTMilton Corp13COHCochlear14WPLWoodside Petroleum15WOWWoolworths16WESWesfarmers17RIORio Tinto18APTAfterpay19SWFSelfwealth20FMGFortescue Metals GroupAll but one of the leading ETFs held by Selfwealth members saw a notable increase in its collective valuation held across our community, with the majority of those ETFs even growing by more than 10%. Nonetheless, the only ETF which failed to keep up with the trend was the SPDR S&P/ASX 200 Fund (ASX: STW), which also dropped a position on the list as a result.Across the broader stock market, the STW ETF has seen some notable movements after opting not to pay any franking credits in its June year-end distribution for the first time, although the fund has since reinstated said credits. Leaping above STW was the BetaShares NASDAQ 100 ETF (ASX: NDQ), with Selfwealth members appearing to embrace an opportunity for exposure to the NASDAQ market as it recorded one all-time high after another.ETFCompany1VASV300AEQ/ETF2VGSVINTL/ETF3VDHGVDHIGHGROW/ETF4VTSVUSTOTAL/ETF5IVVISCS&P500/ETF6A200BETAAUS200/ETF7VEUVWORLDXUS/ETF8NDQBETANASDAQ/ETF9STWSPDR S&P/ASX 200 Fund10VAPV300APROP/ETF

Which shares and ETFs were the most traded?

Despite a strong performance by the ASX in January, many Selfwealth members took an opportunity to secure profits as the surplus in buying volume to selling volume shrunk considerably across the month. While the ratio among the leading 10 stocks was running at 1.47x in December, this narrowed to 1.14x last month. Across all trades made through the Selfwealth platform, buying volume compared with selling volume decreased from 1.5x to 1.19x.PurchasesCodeSecurity1BBOZBETA SBEAR/FD2VASV300AEQ/ETF3FMGFortescue Metals Group4VDHGVDHIGHGROW/ETF5CSLCSL6APTAfterpay7VGSVINTL/ETF8ANZANZ9NCMNewcrest Mining10WBCWestpacSalesCodeSecurity1BBOZBETA SBEAR/FD2FMGFortescue Metals Group3APTAfterpay4CSLCSL5CBACommonwealth Bank6ANZANZ7WBCWestpac8APXAppen9A2MA2 Milk10WPLWoodside PetroleumThe Australian Equities Strong Bear Fund (ASX: BBOZ) was the most-bought stock last month, by value, with significant growth across all the corresponding trades. After two consecutive months where buying volume almost doubled, the value of BBOZ purchases rose nearly 50% last month. That activity was spread across more than 150 trades. As we've become accustomed to, the same ETF was also the most-sold stock, however, this is the first month in some time where buying volume (and trades) outstripped selling volume (and trades) for the ETF, suggesting some investors were concerned as the Coronavirus rattled markets late-January.The emergence of Newcrest Mining (ASX: NCM) among the most-bought stocks further reinforces the likelihood that some investors were shifting towards a more defensive-oriented portfolio with exposure to gold, especially as the number of buy orders in NCM more than doubled sell orders.Nonetheless, there were some divisive trades splitting Selfwealth members, with Afterpay (ASX: APT) proving one of the most polarising trades across January even though the company shares soared 31.7%. Buying volume in APT shares increased almost 75% on December value, but it was outmatched by heavy selling from profit-takers, with sale orders increasing significantly such that APT was the third-most sold stock during January.As a special note, Nearmap (ASX: NEA) shares just missed the cut for the top 10 most-bought stocks, coming in at number 11, however, it also proved divisive, as members from the Selfwealth community went against the company 33.1% drop to buy heavily. In terms of the number of buy orders placed via Selfwealth, NEA came in at number 6 across all stocks, beaten only by a handful of ETFs and Cann Group (ASX: CAN).Elsewhere, some other stocks that saw a higher-than-normal value of sale orders last month were Commonwealth Bank (ASX: CBA), Appen (ASX: APX), and Woodside Petroleum (ASX: WPL). Perhaps the most interesting observation, however, was that just one ETF featured among the most-sold stocks, which was the aforementioned BBOZ. While the Selfwealth community has historically bought far more ETFs than they have sold, the disparity has shifted towards a multi-month high.

That all for this Trade Trends report, stay tuned for the next edition this time next month!