Key takeaways:

• Surging uranium prices drew buying interest to the segment, while buying in other popular names like BHP and Domino’s was driven by market sell-offs

• Buying conviction increased for ETFs catering to the Australian share market

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The new year started with an encouraging showing from the local share market. By the end of the month, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 was circling all-time highs, and subsequently went on to reset that feat at the start of February.

Investors were buoyed by lower-than-expected inflation data, which has fuelled optimism in some quarters that local interest rates may have already peaked. 

This was a boon for real estate stocks and consumer discretionary shares, however, there were also bright performances from tech and healthcare, among other sectors.

Meanwhile, here is what members of the Selfwealth community were buying and selling last month.

ASX share trading activity

By trade volume, BHP (ASX: BHP) was the most traded stock on the Selfwealth platform last month, with nearly two-thirds of all trades in the iron ore major being ‘buys’. Shares in the miner were down 6.2% in January following GDP data out of China that showed a patchy recovery in the world’s second largest economy. 

In particular, the property sector remains a concern, which also happens to be a key end market for iron ore via steel, but Selfwealth members sought to look past recent weakness in the price of iron ore in favour of ‘buying the dip’.

Buy-now pay-later operator Zip (ASX: ZIP) was one of the success stories from January, with its shares racing higher by 17.2%. The company’s preliminary half-year results pointed to strong growth, including Group cash EBTDA for 1H24 that is expected to be between $29 million and $33 million. Furthermore, Zip’s Americas division reported a record quarter for total transaction values (TTV). 

Despite the rally, the majority of last month’s Selfwealth trades in ZIP were ‘sales’, which may be reflective of profit taking given the stock has climbed around 150% since November.

A late-month sell-off in the share price of Domino’s Pizza (ASX: DMP) prompted a wave of new trading interest from Selfwealth members. Most of said trades were ‘buys’, with the stock finishing the month as the 13th most traded company on the Selfwealth platform. 

The pizza chain was forced to withdraw its annual guidance as it deals with setbacks in its expansion across Asia, most notably, Japan. Network sales were also weaker than expected across Europe, leading to a four-and-a-half year low in the DMP share price.

Uranium stocks were also a key talking point in January, with the commodity touching a 16-year high and breaking the US$100/lb mark on global supply tightness. That saw ASX-listed stocks like Boss Energy (ASX: BOE) and Paladin Energy (ASX: PDN) both make the top 20 most traded names, with a mixture of short-term trading and ‘long’ investing on display.

Top 20 Stocks by Trades

1. BHP - BHP: 63.9%

2. PLS - Pilbara Minerals: 55.4%

3. FMG - Fortescue: 45.7%

4. MQG - Macquarie Group: 49.9%

5. WDS - Woodside Energy: 57.2%

6. ANZ - ANZ: 47.3%

7. LTR - Liontown Resources: 65.9%

8. WBC - Westpac: 31.4%

9. ZIP - Zip: 44.5%

10. RMD - Resmed: 64.2%

11. QAN - Qantas: 47.6%

12. CSL - CSL: 32.3%

13. DMP - Domino’s Pizza: 56.4%

14. MIN - Mineral Resources: 68.0%

15. CXO - Core Lithium: 45.4%

16. BOE - Boss Energy: 52.5%

17. CBA - Commonwealth Bank: 34.2%

18. PDN - Paladin Energy: 51.8%

19. WHC - Whitehaven Coal: 44.0%

20. EVN - Evolution Mining: 66.9%

Turning to ETFs, and the real story here was an increase in buying conviction across some of the most popular ETFs targeting Australian equities. For example, take the Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF (ASX: VAS), where the buy-to-sell ratio rose from an uncharacteristically low level of 61.9% in December to 75.4% in January. 

It was a similar story for the Vanguard Diversified High Growth Index ETF (ASX: VDHG), with buying conviction rising from 61.1% to 70.0%, and the BetaShares Australia 200 ETF (ASX: A200), where the buy-to-sell ratio rose from 64.6% to 78.3%.

Meanwhile, the Betashares Global Cybersecurity ETF (ASX: HACK) made an appearance among the most traded ETFs, which followed double-digit returns from a number of US cybersecurity stocks including Crowdstrike Holdings (NASDAQ: CRWD) and Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ: PANW).

Top 10 ETFs by Trades

1. VAS - Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF: 75.4%

2. VDHG - Vanguard Diversified High Growth Index ETF: 70.0%

3. VGS - Vanguard MSCI Index International Shares ETF: 82.0%

4. NDQ - Betashares Nasdaq 100 ETF: 76.1%

5. IVV - Ishares S&P 500 ETF: 81.7%

6. A200 - BetaShares Australia 200 ETF: 78.3%

7. VTS - Vanguard U.S. Total Market Shares Index ETF: 74.0%

8. HACK - Betashares Global Cybersecurity ETF: 59.3%

9. DHHF - BetaShares Diversified All Growth ETF: 78.8%

10. GEAR - Betashares Geared Australian Equity Fund: 54.9%

Macquarie Group (ASX: MQG) was a surprise packet atop the most traded shares by value, with the fifth ‘pillar’ in Australian banking seeing around $80 million worth of shares swap hands within the Selfwealth community. 

However, it wasn’t the only bank receiving attention, joined by ANZ (ASX: ANZ), Westpac (ASX: WBC), and Commonwealth Bank (ASX: CBA). This suggests industry interest may have been driven by sector views in relation to the outlook for rate cuts in 2024.

Elsewhere, iron ore and healthcare were two of the themes attracting notable money flow.

In the case of iron ore, Fortescue (ASX: FMG), BHP (ASX: BHP), and Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO) were all inside the top 20 for the value of shares exchanged on the Selfwealth platform in January. 

Similarly, Resmed (ASX: RMD) and CSL (ASX: CSL) found themselves among the most traded stocks by value. Both of these stocks were susceptible to sell-offs last year in relation to the Ozempic weight loss drug, but with some of these concerns recently moderating, the pair were both trading at multi-month highs and likely drawing momentum traders into the fold. 

Top 20 Shares Traded by Value

1. MQG - Macquarie Group: 48.0%

2. FMG - Fortescue: 48.6%

3. BHP - BHP: 51.9%

4. ANZ - ANZ: 38.6%

5. WBC - Westpac: 42.5%

6. VAS - Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF: 50.9%

7. WDS - Woodside Energy: 51.9%

8. AAA - Betashares Australian High Interest Cash ETF: 56.8%

9. SNAS - ETFS Ultra Short Nasdaq 100 Hedge Fund: 51.0%

10. BBOZ - Australian Equities Strong Bear Hedge Fund: 52.0%

11. LNAS - ETFS Ultra Long Nasdaq 100 Hedge Fund: 49.8%

12. CBA - Commonwealth Bank: 46.1%

13. PLS - Pilbara Minerals: 47.0%

14. GEAR - Betashares Geared Australian Equity Fund: 44.6%

15. RIO - Rio Tinto: 49.7%

16. RMD - Resmed: 50.2%

17. CSL - CSL: 33.3%

18. IVV - iShares Core S&P 500 ETF: 49.4%

19. VGS - Vanguard MSCI Index International Shares ETF: 67.3%

20. QAN - Qantas: 46.9%

What are the most popular ASX shares and ETFs?

There were few changes to the list of the most popular equities in the Selfwealth community, with Neuren Pharmaceuticals (ASX: NEU) streets ahead, followed by Commonwealth Bank (ASX: CBA). 

The latter, however, saw the highest increase in value across the top 20, with collective holdings surging by 13.1%. CBA shares touched a record high last month, gaining over 5% as investors look past any margin concerns to the prospect of rate cuts providing relief for borrowers and also spurring further gains in the property market.

Woodside Energy (ASX: WDS), in 11th spot, was another name that saw the collective value of its holdings increase markedly last month, up 6.3%. Some of this was attributable to the performance of the underlying stock, which rose 4.4%, but it also reflected bullish views towards the oil major as conflict in the Middle East spread.

At the other end of the scale, the collective value of holdings in Pilbara Minerals (ASX: PLS) was sliced by 12%. Like a number of its lithium peers, PLS has faced pressure due to the ongoing slump in lithium carbonate prices. Shares in the miner fell more than 10% in January, and during the last two months buying conviction for Selfwealth trade volumes has been around 8 to 10 percentage points lower than the preceding four-month period.

Finally, representing the only change among the most popular holdings, Whitehaven Coal (ASX: WHC) emerged in 20th position. Its appearance was supported by a 13.3% rally last month, and a one-year high for the coal exporter. One of the catalysts for that result was news that the company recorded strong interest from lenders and other third-parties looking to take minority stakes in its new coking coal mines.

ASX Shares

1. NEU - Neuren Pharmaceuticals

2. CBA - Commonwealth Bank

3. CSL - CSL

4. BHP - BHP

5. WBC - Westpac

6. ANZ - ANZ

7. NAB - National Australia Bank

8. MQG - Macquarie Group

9. FMG - Fortescue

10. AFI - Australian Foundation Investment

11. WDS - Woodside Energy

12. WES - Wesfarmers

13. PLS - Pilbara Minerals

14. TLS - Telstra

15. RIO - Rio Tinto

16. SOL - Washington H Soul Pattinson & Co.

17. ARG - Argo Investments

18. WOW - Woolworths

19. FLT - Flight Centre

20. WHC - Whitehaven Coal

For ETF holdings, Betashares Nasdaq 100 ETF (ASX: NDQ) leapfrogged the Vanguard U.S. Total Market Shares Index ETF (ASX: VTS). Both recorded a comparable monthly return, albeit buying support was fractionally higher for tech-oriented NDQ, likely due to the resilience of ‘Big Tech’ earnings late in the month.

ASX ETFs

1. VAS - Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF

2. VGS - Vanguard MSCI Index International Shares ETF

3. VDHG - Vanguard Diversified High Growth Index ETF

4. IVV - Ishares S&P 500 ETF

5. A200 - BetaShares Australia 200 ETF

6. NDQ - Betashares Nasdaq 100 ETF

7. VTS - Vanguard U.S. Total Market Shares Index ETF

8. VHY - Vanguard Australian Shares High Yield ETF

9. DHHF - BetaShares Diversified All Growth ETF

10. VEU - Vanguard All-World ex-U.S. Shares Index ETF