Retail Clients Drive Equities Post-Liberation Day

• Retail clients remain net buyers of equities throughout the volatility

• US tech names still attracting most interest despite selloff and ‘sell USA’ trade

• Deliveroo, Alphawave IP Group and B&M European Value lead UK stock list for the month

April was the cruelest month for anyone that sold into the Liberation Day panic, as we’ve seen one of the swiftest turnarounds in memory. Stocks have come back up and volatility receded; the FTSE 100 has enjoyed its best run in years off the lows and the Nasdaq has closed the gap with where it traded before April 2nd. From a high of 60, Wall Street’s ‘fear gauge’ the Vix has come back down to below 25. Nevertheless,we are left with a weaker dollar, lower oil prices and higher gold prices.

Of note, April 3rd saw individual investors buy stocks and ETFs at a record pace of $4.7 billion, the highest daily inflow over the past decade, according to data from J.P. Morgan.

The FTSE is near its pre-Liberation Day level, currently sitting about 1.4% below where it closed on April 2nd.

Gold shone amid the market turmoil but has come off a touch towards the end of the month as risk appetite gained strength and pushed equities back to the flatline for the month. Chinese ETF buyers of the metal are on holiday until May 6th, which could keep price action relatively subdued.

Oil is on track for its largest April loss in almost thirty years due to trade war impacts and eased OPEC+ supply curbs, with production rising next month. Brent has dropped 15% to near $63/barrel, its biggest April fall since 1988. 

Rate sensitive areas – often called bond proxies because they trade in correlation with bonds. These are things like property and infrastructure, as well as defensive, high-yield corners of the market such as utilities.

UK assets have done well since April 2nd as we have seen a global rotation out of expensive megacap tech into ‘cheaper’ unloved regions, with the UK seen as perennially priced at a discount. Beware the value trap, of course.

What our clients are trading

Saxo UK clients have traded big name stocks in volume – Nvidia, Tesla, Broadcom, Apple, Amazon lead the way as you would expect. Among UK names, BP, EasyJet and Rolls-Royce were the most actively traded. Palantir has attracted a lot of interest after its sharp fall in Q1. While data suggests pros have been selling, our clients are net buyers amid the turmoil – a strategy that looks to be winning with equity markets rallying sharply off their lows earlier in the month.

UK Stocks

Looking to only UK-listed assets on the Saxo Investor platform, we can look at the sectors and stocks that have done well and those that have faded, and explore a few themes.

The Good

Top performing UK stocks this month feature Deliveroo – subject to a takeover approach by DoorDash; Alphawave IP Group, also subject to approach by Qualcomm; and B&M European Value, on improved guidance.

Some of the other names might be surprising – holiday firms Jet2 and On The Beach, as well as pub names like Youngs & Co and Wetherspoon.

As usual context is important, the pub groups are bouncing back after suffering an employer national insurance Budget hit by Rachel Reeves, which has left the shares down 10-12% this year.

Travel & leisure seems to be fragmenting with On The Beach continuing its run after record-breaking revenues posted in December sent shares flying.