Bank collapses fail to deter investors from banking shares
Despite recent bank collapses, analysis of investor trading behaviour found banking trades increased significantly in March, with the majority buying rather than selling.
Analysis by SelfWealth showed that trades in Macquarie Bank were up 23 per cent on the ASX compared to its annualised monthly average, with 77 per cent of trades being buys.
Bank of Queensland (BOQ) trade jumped 34 per cent above its monthly average, with 78 per cent of all trades a buy.
ANZ, Macquarie, Westpac and Commonwealth Bank were all in the top 10 most traded stocks by volume during March, while Commonwealth Bank was also the 10th most traded stock by value.
Interestingly, a new addition to the mix was Judo Capital Holdings, the owner of Judo Bank, with a focus on lending to small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Trades in this holding jumped over 100 per cent, with 74 per cent of trades being buys.
Cath Whitaker, SelfWealth’s chief executive, noted that ASX trades in BOQ were near record levels.
She added that the reaction to SVB and Credit Suisse had seen huge spikes in trading for smaller players as well.
“The biggest banking movers were Macquarie, which jumped 19 places on our list of most traded stocks to finish the month in sixth,” she observed.
“ANZ was a local winner, jumping 10 places to end up in fourth and enjoying a 72 per cent buy-to-sell ratio that indicated investors showing higher conviction [in] it than other banks.”
Among other stocks, Pilbara Minerals was the top-traded stock overall for the third month in a row, followed by BHP and Woodside.
The top five stocks overall for March of single stocks (not ETFs) by value were headed up by Apple, Citibank, Bank of America, BHP and Fortescue.
SelfWealth noted that a “strange addition” to this list was an American regional bank, First Republic Bank, which saw 70 per cent of all trades being inflows of capital.
AUTHOR
Rhea Nath
Recommended for you
Tribeca Investment Partners has made a distribution hire from Australian Ethical in a newly-created role focused on the national intermediary market.
Asset managers may be urged to diversify their product ranges, but investment executives have warned any M&A deal should avoid simply filling gaps and instead consider long-term value creation.
Specialist wealth platform provider Mason Stevens has become the latest target of an acquisition as it enters a binding agreement with a leading Sydney-based private equity firm.
Fund managers are entering 2025 with the most bullish sentiment since August 2021 and record high allocations to US equities, thanks to the incoming Trump administration.
