US indices reset their all-time highs in August, with investors responding favourably to the Federal Reserve clarification that interest rates are not likely to lift any time soon, even if it tapers its QE program later this year. 

Tech stocks and biotech shares were the best-performers, in turn driving a 4% gain for the Nasdaq, and a 2.9% increase for the S&P 500, while the Dow Jones edged higher by just 1.2%.

That trend followed through to the Selfwealth community, as evidenced by last month popular shares.

Which US shares were the most held?

After a buoyant month of trading, Gamestop (NYSE: GME) returned to the top of the list for the most-held US share across the Selfwealth community, overtaking Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) in the process. On the back of the rise, and the significant liquidity attached to the company shares, GME has been touted by some as a potential candidate for inclusion in the S&P 500 when the next quarterly rebalance takes place later this month. This may be something spurring traders to back the stock, even though it hasn't met profitability thresholds for the key index.Among other high-profile movers, Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) moved up the charts into 10th place as the most-held US stock among Selfwealth members. Shares in NVDA had a tremendous month, advancing 14.8%. Despite at one stage looking as though the share price might falter, Nvidia earnings beat proved a catalyst for the stock to resume its rally. Semiconductor shortages worldwide are fresh in the minds of investors, and the company results suggest it is taking full advantage of the situation, boasting soaring graphics card sales.Unsurprisingly, software and data names like Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Palantir (NYSE: PLTR) remain hot property, with the latter enjoying a solid earnings season thanks to strong revenue growth. The company unveiled a 49% increase in revenue compared with last year, while also providing a positive guidance for the near-to-mid-term. Salesforce (NYSE: CRM) also joined the fold as enthusiasm for tech stocks remains an ongoing theme.Elsewhere, well-known investor Michael Burry might be betting against the ARK Innovation ETF (NYSE: ARKK), but Selfwealth members have increased their exposure to the fund, even as growth has moderated in recent times. Two of the fund manager other ETFs, the ARK Genomic Revolution (NYSE: ARKG) and ARK Fintech Innovation (NYSE: ARKF), both remain popular choices, albeit saw fund outflows last month across the Selfwealth community. US StockCompany1GMEGameStop2TSLATesla3AAPLApple4AMZNAmazon5MSFTMicrosoft6AMCAMC Entertainment7ARKKARK Innovation ETF8PLTRPalantir9BABAAlibaba10NVDANvidia11GOOGLAlphabet Class A12ARKGARK Genomic Revolution ETF13NIONio14PYPLPayPal15QQQInvesco QQQ Trust Series 116AMDAdvanced Micro Devices17BRK.BBerkshire Hathaway18CRMSalesforce.com19ARKFArk Fintech Innovation ETF20DISDisney

US share trading activity

While all the familiar Reddit and tech names remained ever-present among the most-traded shares last month, a number of other stocks made an appearance on the back of dramatic movements in the market. 

Texas-based lithium-ion battery manufacturer Microvast Holdings (NASDAQ: MVST) soared up the list, featuring as the second-most traded stock by value, and the 12th most-traded US stock by orders filled. The company was at one stage the most-discussed stock on the popular WallStreetBets forum on Reddit, driven by a favourable' revenue-to-market cap comparison against fellow EV battery developer Quantumscape (NYSE: QS). Amid volatile trading, Shares in MVST gained as much as 50% in August before ending the month lower, albeit they have since marched higher once again.Elsewhere, Nasdaq heavyweights Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ: AMD) and Moderna (NASDAQ: MRNA) both gained notoriety throughout the month on the back of favourable industry developments. AMD continues to benefit from unprecedented demand for semiconductors, while Moderna vaccine development has brought it a guaranteed pipeline of revenue that only looks set to increase as booster shots appear likely to be a part of vaccination roll-outs.Another name seeing trading interest roar to life in August was BIT Mining (NYSE: BTCM). The cryptocurrency stock is riding the wave of a rally in the price of Bitcoin and Ethereum, and also announced a shift in its bitcoin mining operations from China to Kazakhstan given regulatory issues in its home market. A number of retail investors have also taken note of the stock low shares on issue, hoping for a short squeeze. Market chatter was also the driving force in trading activity for a number of other stocks like software business Support.com (NASDAQ: SPRT), which was targeted due to the high level of short interest in the stock, e-commerce platform ContextLogic Inc. (NASDAQ: WISH), and retail broker Robinhood (NASDAQ: HOOD), which brought up its first month of trading as a public company.Top 20 stocks traded by valueCode SecurityBuy-sell Ratio1AMCAMC Entertainment49.3%2MVSTMicrovast Holdings50.5%3GMEGameStop54.6%4AMDAdvanced Micro Devices52.9%5BTCMBIT Mining51.9%6MRNAModerna52.6%7NIONio50.5%8TSLATesla70.3%9BABAAlibaba79.4%10SPRTSupport.com50.1%11AAPLApple72.9%12WISHContextLogic49.7%13NVDANVidia66.8%14AMZNAmazon75.3%15HOODRobinhood56.4%16UBERUber4.1%17PLTRPalantir53.7%18QQQInvesco QQQ Trust Series 168.8%19SAVACassava Sciences48.2%20QSQuantumscape Corp50.8%

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