The Schwab Trading Activity Index (STAX), a measure that analyzes individual investors' stock positions and trading activity from the Charles Schwab Index (New York Stock Exchange:SW) Customer accounts rose slightly to 49.05 in May from 48.87 in April, leaving the metric in the “moderately low” range.
Schwab (SCHW) clients were net buyers of shares during the five-week period ending May 31, 2024, it said Monday.
Clients have increased their exposure to technology-related names, especially those related to artificial intelligence chip makers, said Joe Mazzola, chief trading and derivatives strategist at Schwab.
“Despite the great deal of hype, we didn't see any of these so-called 'meme stocks' rise to the top of the most bought or sold names in May, although we did note that interest in these names was much greater among younger Schwab clients,” he added. Compared to general customers.
During the May STAX period, the S&P 500 rose 3.48%, the Nasdaq Composite rose 5.07% and the Dow Jones advanced 1.7%, even against the backdrop of headwinds from headline inflation measures.
Popular names bought by Schwab (SCHW) clients during this period include Nvidia (NVDA), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Tesla (TSLA), Amazon (AMZN), and Microsoft (MSFT).
Net sells included Apple (AAPL), Alibaba Group (BABA), Bank of America (BAC), Snap (SNAP), and Exxon Mobil (XOM).