A relatively robust set of earnings from mega-tech companies helped the US stock market post its best monthly result since November, 2020. The Nasdaq went one step further, delivering its best result since April of that year.

As the narrative pivots from soaring inflation to aggressive rate hikes, and now concerns about a recession, investors have been happy to buy a number of oversold stocks after earnings season turned out to be not as bad as the market had anticipated. 

With commodity prices retreating during the month, traders also began to speculate the Federal Reserve may not need to hike rates as high as many economists believe will be necessary to bring down stubborn inflation.

The Selfwealth community was buying and selling these shares last month.

US share trading activity

For the second month running, bank stocks were again in focus as a growing number of investors looked towards these names to benefit from a rising interest rate environment. 

With the Federal Reserve hiking rates 75 basis points last month, and the banks holding up relatively well following their quarterly results, investors are showing some optimism the US economy may avoid a prolonged downturn. 

Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) and Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) were the fourth and fifth most traded US stocks respectively, although not to be outdone were Citibank (NYSE: C) and JPMorgan (NYSE: JPM), which also moved sharply higher up the list.With a gain of over 10% across the course of the month, investors flocked back to perennial favourite Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.B), and in big numbers. 

Not only was the stock the fourth most traded name on the Selfwealth US share trading platform, but a staggering 95% of the value of shares that swapped hands were buy orders.

Among some, the company may represent an inflation play', with the investment conglomerate offering exposure to significant energy assets, as well as utilities and insurance coverage, all of which typically benefit in a rising rate environment.

Sticking with the energy theme, and we saw the emergence of a couple pure-play investments that tap into elevated oil and gas prices. 

With energy majors also delivering record results late in the month, there may be a sense that exposure to this segment remains a compelling theme, especially in light of a recent pull-back in the price of each commodity. 

The ProShares Ultra Bloomberg Natural Gas (NYSE: BOIL) and United States Oil ETF (NYSE: USO) were central to this theme, both sitting comfortably in the top 20 most traded US shares.Last but not least, Toughbuilt Industries (NASDAQ: TBLT) and Novavax (NASDAQ: NVAX) were both popular names courtesy of social media site Reddit, with the former emerging as a short squeeze play, and the latter gaining traction after finally receiving emergency use authorisation in the US for its COVID vaccine.Top 20 stocks traded by valueCode SecurityBuy-sell Ratio1TQQQProShares UltraPro QQQ51.1%2SQQQProShares UltraPro Short QQQ ETF51.5%3TSLATesla45.7%4BRKBerkshire Hathaway95.3%5WFCWells Fargo & Co51.2%6BACBank of America52.2%7BOILProShares Ultra Bloomberg Natural Gas44.5%8CCitibank53.2%9GOOGLAlphabet72.3%10AAPLApple54.5%11JPMJPMorgan54.1%12NVDANvidia54.0%13USOUnited States Oil ETF59.9%14MSFTMicrosoft53.4%15AMZNAmazon49.2%16UVXYProShares Ultra VIX Short Term Futures ETF53.9%17TBLTToughbuilt Industries51.9%18OPENOpendoor Technologies48.5%19NVAXNovavax58.8%20BULZBank of Montreal MicroSectors FANG Innovation 3x Leveraged ETN48.2%

Which US shares are the most held?

Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL) both moved up the list in terms of the most held US stocks, and that followed a return to risk-on sentiment across the month, and earnings from both companies that experts felt weren't too bad in light of the economic situation. 

Holdings in AMZN grew almost 24% versus the prior month - largely due to the stock's meteoric performance fuelled by an upbeat outlook - while Alphabet holdings swelled 17%, diverging from a far more modest gain across the month.

The rally in Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) came to a screeching halt in July, as a new series of setbacks weighed on the company's share price and all but quashed buying interest. 

The Chinese e-commerce giant encountered new regulatory drama last month, but it was hit by an even bigger headache late in the month when the US Securities and Exchange Commission included the company on a shortlist of stocks that face potential delisting in three months if US auditors cannot get access to the company's financial accounts.

Microchip stocks also got a boost last month as mixed earnings from this segment illustrated some of the concerns across the market may well be confined to individual players within the industry. 

Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) moved up into 10th position, while Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ: AMD) was higher into 16th. Outside the top 20, there were also promising moves from ASML Holding (NASDAQ: ASML) and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (NYSE: TSM).PayPal (NASDAQ: PYPL) is back in the top 20 after a brief absence, and it coincides with a stronger performance for the digital payments stock in the lead up to its quarterly earnings report. 

The value of PYPL holdings on the Selfwealth platform increased more than 20% month-over-month, mainly due to share price appreciation, but new buying interest also played a part as broader tech sentiment improved.

For the first time, Accenture (NYSE: ACN) makes an appearance among the most held US stocks on the Selfwealth platform. While the stock only just made the cut, it has clearly beat out a number of more high-profile names, especially from the tech sector.US StockCompany1TSLATesla2AAPLApple3RYRoyal Bank of Canada4MSFTMicrosoft5AMZNAmazon6GOOGLAlphabet7GMEGameStop8BRK.BBerkshire Hathaway9BABAAlibaba10NVDANvidia11VOOVanguard 500 Index Fund ETF12ENBEnbridge13METAMeta Platforms14PLTRPalantir15ARKKARK Innovation ETF16AMDAdvanced Micro Devices17BCEBCE18PYPLPayPal19BNSBank of Nova Scotia20ACNAccenture

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