Saxo, the online trading platform, revealed that its top performing equity-themed basket in July was ‘Cyber Security’, returning 5.1% last month.
An equity basket, according to Saxo, is a collection of stocks thematically identified by the company’s analysts to isolate an area of the market and act as inspiration for investors.
However, July was broadly a bad month for Saxo Group’s equity baskets with only two, ‘Cyber Security’ and ‘Battery’, outperforming the global MSCI World index.
July’s Saxo Group top performing Equity Themed Baskets
| Equity Theme Basket | July Return (%) |
| Cyber Security | 5.1% |
| Battery | 3.1% |
| MSCI World (USD) | 1.8% |
| India (GDRs) | 1.3% |
| Financial Trading | -0.2% |
| Semiconductors | -0.4% |
| Green Transformation | -1.2% |
| Commodity Sector | -1.2% |
| Mega Caps | -1.7% |
| Logistics | -2.9% |
| Crypto & Blockchain | -5.0% |
| Travel | -5.6% |
| MSCI EM (USD) | -6.7% |
| Cannabis | -7.1% |
| NextGen Medicine | -7.2% |
| E-commerce | -7.3% |
| Gaming | -8.7% |
| Bubble Stocks | -10.7% |
| 3D Printing | -11.1% |
| China Consumer & Technology | -11.9% |
The low performance across the board came about mainly due to concerns over the Delta variant of Covid-19 and its impact on the global economy.
Peter Garnry, Head of Equity Strategy at Saxo Group, said the platform’s Cyber Security basket performed well in July for two key reasons: “The first was a strong earnings momentum for the industry. The second reason is that American President Joe Biden in July signed an official agreement, pledging to strengthen the US’ cyber security efforts and ensure that the country is prepared for future cyber attacks.”
The US 10-year yield fell during July, as did ‘Bubble’ stocks, making it an usual month. At the same time, the earnings season started strong as some of the world’s major companies companies beat estimates. However, global supply chains are still being paced by supply chain challenges.
The worst performing basket of all was ‘China Consumer and Technology’, after the CCP cracked down an certain sectors over fears they were getting too much power.
“We have also recently seen China crack down on its for-profit education industry and its wider technology industry as well as on Chinese listings in the US,” said Garnry. “It seems as though this is due to a desire to move the country’s industry towards other technologies within renewable energy and semiconductors.”
“China is moving away from a strategy of growth at all-costs and instead looks towards more high-end technology development. Global investors, which have recalibrated their exposure to emerging markets and China, sending the China Consumer & Technology basket South.”