With March to May being a turbulent period for shareholders, June appeared to be the month where some semblance of usual service resumed. Though, while most companies began finding their feet again, most of their share prices were significantly below where they were at the start of the year, with a return to previous levels not expected for many until 2021 or 2022. Analysing their trading through June, CFD and financial spread betting provider IG (LON:IGG) reported on the most commonly traded shares on their platform.
Airlines and Aviation saw a resurgence
After understandable mass sell-offs in airline shares towards the beginning of lockdown, June saw investors hoping to take advantage of cut-price offerings before flights restarted in earnest in July.
The most commonly traded share on the IG platform in June were IAG (LON:IAG) shares. The owners of British Airways, having suffered a one-day share price dip of 8.80% in June, had to sell off a large part of their fine art collection to raise capital. The stock’s discount price, and timing – just before flight routes began reopening – made it an enticing prospect for traders, with the volume of its shares being traded on the IG platform seeing a month-on-month increase of 35%.
With several outlets reporting on Wednesday that IAG shares are ready to ‘take off’, the company saw its share price bounce by over 10%.
Other airlines received similar buzz, with easyJet being the third most traded stock and American Airlines coming nineteenth on the list, with their volume of shares traded increasing month-on-month by 21% and 135% respectively.
Elsewhere in aviation, aerospace engineering firm Rolls-Royce (LON:RR) claimed the number six spot on most traded stocks, with volumes up 29% month-on-month. The company’s shares likely also saw a resurgence in activity in early July, with its shares tumbling as it sought out a £2 billion loan. Aerospace engineering firm Boeing also proved popular in June, becoming the fourteenth most traded stock, and seeing the month-on-month trades of its shares bouncing 71%.
Big Banks may still be a fan favourite
It would hardly be a good account of the most popular stocks if we didn’t mention Lloyds Banking Group (LON:LLOY), and indeed the bank took second place in IG’s most traded stocks, with the volume of its shares being traded rising 8% month-on-month. In June the company were landed with a £64 million fine over its mortgage failures and later announced that its boss of nearly a decade was stepping down. However, its popularity in June was likely little more than a force of habit – investors trust the UK banking bluechip and believe that it’s still a safe place to tuck some money away. On Wednesday, the company’s shares traded as normal, rallying modestly by around 0.70%.
Elsewhere, RBS took the number twenty spot on the most-traded list, with its month-on-month volumes remaining entirely flat. Meanwhile, Barclays were the eighth most traded stock, though it lost some ground on the previous month, and in June saw its shares’ trading volume drop by 7%.
Motor vehicle companies kept rolling
Also popular were the shares of car manufacturers. Despite the disappointing news of job cuts, Aston Martin Lagonda (LON:AML) performed well in early June, looking to pull off a V-shaped recovery from its COVID dip in the previous months. This saw the company claim fourth place in the most traded shares list, with its trading volumes picking up speed and rising by 46% month-on-month. Likely buoyed by its first SUV rolling off of the production line on Tuesday, Aston Martin shares rallied 4.35% on Wednesday.
Another sub-sector that enjoyed strong demand was the electric vehicle industry. Tesla saw its trading volumes rise 6% month-on-month as US investors got excited about the stock touching values of around $1,000 apiece for the second time in 2020. This activity saw it take the number ten spot on IG’s most traded list.
Similarly, Tesla rival and fello electric vehicle company Nikola, saw its trading volumes skyrocket 279% during June, with the highly volatile stock proving popular with option traders. The company landed itself the number fifteen spot on most traded stocks last month.
Oil sector difficulties see share trades gush
Ahead of even airlines and hospitality sectors, oil was the sector hardest-hit by COVID, and this was reflected in June trading with investors both preempting price recoveries and others offloading their loss-makers.
On the IG rankings, BP (LON:BP) took the top spot for the most popularly traded oil stock, at fifth place overall on the monthly rankings and up 24% from May. With factors that could have led to both mass purchases and mass sales of the stock, BP had an exceptionally busy June, with its announcement that it will slowly transition more of its operations towards green energy, the news that it would have to slash $17.5 billion off of the value of its oil and gas assets, and its announcement that it would be selling off its petrochemicals business to INEOS. On Wednesday, the company’s shares rallied by almost 2.50%.
Meanwhile, though often seen as (and for many, still) the best moneymaker in the oil business, Royal Dutch Shell saw its share trading volumes drop by 10% in June, which saw it take the number eleven spot of most traded shares. One reason we could maybe assume for Shell’s recent loss of popularity was its choice to cut its dividend during the pandemic’s peak, which had, for decades, been a huge source of attraction for investors looking to tuck their money away in a money-making bluechip.
Other notable mentions in the oil industry include Premier Oil and Tullow Oil, which occupied the number sixteen and eighteen spots on the most popular shares list, with each seeing their trading volumes increase during June by 89% and 63% respectively.
Notable mentions
Other worthy candidates for the June top twenty list include more companies which have seen their operations regain pace as lockdown began easing in June.
Examples of such companies include Cineworld, who became the seventh popular share, with volumes increasing 40% as the company announced it would reopen its cinemas during June.
Similarly, hire care company Hertz saw strong trading activity, taking the number thirteen spot and seeing its volumes hike 210%. The Hertz share price saw a sharp spike at the start of the month, followed by a dip and levelling out during the rest of June.
Thirdly, we have cruise company Carnival. With cruise ships acting as potential incubation pods for the virus, cruise services went into standstill between March and June. Last month, however, the company became the ninth most-traded share, with its volumes up by 79% month-on-month. On Wednesday, the group’s shares rallied by over 10%.
A final company to note is Wirecard, who had the biggest shift in its shares trading out of any company. After first filing for insolvency and seeing its shares plummet 76%, the company had restrictions on its UK payments lifted towards the end of the month. The combination of these factors saw Wirecard share trading volumes take off, up 1798% and lifting the company to the rank of twelfth most traded share for June.
