The US stock market posted large losses last month, with each of the major indexes struggling over concerns about the Federal Reserve rate hike cycle, and growing predictions a recession is on the cards. 

The growth-oriented Nasdaq and S&P 500 indexes led the losses, down 8.7% and 8.4% respectively, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 6.7%.

With technology again at the centre of last month sell-off, a number of market darlings across the Selfwealth community were all the focus.

US share trading activity

The Fed rate hike cycle has prompted a rethink in some quarters around the names that could benefit from rising interest rates, with a number of US banks making the cut in the top 20 most traded stocks last month.

Although still far away from the pointy end of the most traded stocks, the likes of Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC), Citibank (NYSE: C), JPMorgan (NYSE: JPM), and Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) all featured among the most traded names on the Selfwealth platform for the first time, and with buying interest in each stock tracking among the highest percentage of any individual stock. Meanwhile, buyers and sellers remain divided over the outlook of social media giant Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META), with the value of all shares traded last month split right down the middle between the two cohorts. But the volatility across the market did drive a spike in activity, with trading values in the stock up around 15% compared with the previous record seen in April. Further down the list, there was a major drop-off in terms of trading activity in electric vehicle manufacturer Nio (NYSE: NIO), despite the stock advancing 24.9% in an otherwise torrid month for growth stocks. 

Last month trading in Nio was down around 80% versus that of May, which might have something to do with broader sentiment across the market, questions over the company growth in the context of a cooling Chinese economy, and the impact of a short seller report late in the month casting doubt on Nio battery sales. Nonetheless, share price gains were locked in through the first two-thirds of June.

After a five month absence, Disney (NYSE: DIS) once again made its way into the list of the most traded stocks on the Selfwealth platform. Falling 14.5% throughout the course of the month, some buying support may have emerged in light of the stock tumbling to its lowest level since the pandemic started, while that may have also triggered some sellers to take a capital loss just in time for the end of financial year.Top 20 stocks traded by valueCode SecurityBuy-sell Ratio1TQQQProShares UltraPro QQQ50.1%2SQQQProShares UltraPro Short QQQ ETF51.3%3TSLATesla62.4%4METAMeta Platforms50.0%5MSFTMicrosoft51.9%6NVDANvidia50.3%7AAPLApple53.8%8GOOGLAlphabet48.7%9AMZNAmazon64.9%10UVXYProShares Ultra VIX Short Term Futures ETF49.8%11UPSTUpstart Holdings45.3%12NIONio47.2%13QLDProShares Ultra QQQ50.0%14WFCWells Fargo & Co60.4%15DISDisney51.5%16QIDProShares UltraShort QQQ49.0%17BABAAlibaba56.2%18CCitibank61.4%19JPMJPMorgan62.5%20BACBank of America62.1%

Which US shares are the most held?

Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) and Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) remain the most held US stocks across the Selfwealth community, well clear of their rivals despite a sell-off in tech stocks throughout the month.

Both Tesla and Apple have been facing operational difficulties and supply chain constraints in the important market of China, with lockdowns crippling the world second largest economy over recent months. This was evident in quarterly deliveries figures from Tesla at the start of July, although more information is set to come to light when the duo report earnings later this month. 

Elsewhere, Canadian banks remain a top holding as measured by the value of shares in these names, although ownership is concentrated among a small number of members in the community. Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE: RY), Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE: BNS), Toronto-Dominion Bank (NYSE: TD), and Bank of Montreal (NYSE: BMO) all feature within the top 20, and have largely been there for months now, which suggests some long-term conviction towards high-yield financials in a rising interest rate environment.Across the top 20, Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) was the only stock to show any form of meaningful resilience last month, with the collective value of all holdings in the Chinese e-commerce giant surging 25.7%. That took it up to 6th position, its highest placing since November, 2021.

The share price of Alibaba gained 18.4% last month, which suggests the discrepancy between the two readings was due to additional buying support coming in from Selfwealth members. Although also impacted by COVID-related headwinds in China, the increase in share price comes off a low base, with the end of lockdowns in Shanghai prompting a relief rally.

On the move, semiconductor stocks Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) and Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ: AMD) shed ground in the top 20, both falling two spots into 13th and 18th positions respectively. While chip stocks have lost momentum in recent times as demand in the consumer electronics and smartphone space becomes more patchy amid soaring inflation, we also witnessed the likes of Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL) and ARK Innovation ETF (NYSE: ARKK) drop down the list with sentiment for tech stocks decreasing during the month.US StockCompany1TSLATesla2AAPLApple3RYRoyal Bank of Canada4MSFTMicrosoft5GMEGameStop6BABAAlibaba7AMZNAmazon8GOOGLAlphabet Class A9BRK.BBerkshire Hathaway10VOOVanguard 500 Index Fund ETF11METAMeta Platforms12ENBEnbridge13NVDANvidia14PLTRPalantir15ARKKARK Innovation ETF16BCEBCE17BNSBank of Nova Scotia18AMDAdvanced Micro Devices19TDToronto-Dominion Bank20BMOBank of Montreal

That all for this Trade Trends report, stay tuned for the next edition this time next month!