Top of the stocks: most bought and sold stocks in January

We take a whistlestop tour through the most popular stocks and investment trusts last month…by Jo Groves

The new year ushered in the inauguration of Donald Trump surrounded by a coterie of Magnificent Seven titans though I suspect Jeff Bezos’ fiancé may be rethinking her proximity to Mark Zuckerberg on future seating plans…

Moving onto market news, it was a tale of two cities (or countries) in January with UK equities putting their American cousins in the shade for once.

The FTSE 100 strutted through January with a 6% gain on its way to an all-time high, marking its best month since late 2022. This bullish momentum was fuelled by strong corporate earnings (thanks to AstraZeneca on that front), a brighter commodities outlook and growing optimism over interest rate cuts.

Meanwhile, it was more of a mixed bag for the S&P 500, wrapping up the month with a modest 3% gain. Rising bond yields and the impact of inflationary tariffs cast a shadow on investor sentiment as Bank of America’s latest survey revealed that global fund managers are rotating away from the US, with a substantial cut in their overweight positions from 36% to 19%.

Was there a similar shift in sentiment among UK investors? Let’s take a look…

Top 10 most bought and sold shares in January

These were the most (and least) popular shares with UK retail investors on five of the largest investment platforms last month:

Source: Hargreaves Lansdown, AJ Bell, Bestinvest, Fidelity and interactive investor

The buy lists saw a near even US-UK split, with NVIDIA (NVDA) taking top spot for the first time since August (and indeed across all five platforms which is a rare feat).

The AI chip giant suffered a brutal single-day loss, with its share price dropping by 17% (and shedding $600bn in market cap) in the last week of January, tempting investors waiting on the sidelines to pounce. The culprit was Chinese start-up DeepSeek’s breakthrough in producing a rival AI model using cheaper NVIDIA chips.

December’s front runner, Bitcoin proxy play MicroStrategy (MSTR), was pushed into second place as its share price bounced around amid speculation over Trump’s plans for a national Bitcoin reserve.

Meanwhile, Tesla (TSLA) made its third consecutive appearance on the most-bought list as investors snapped up shares after a 20% nosedive in early January. Elon Musk may be hyping up 2026 but Tesla’s outlook is looking more akin to a speed bump than an autobahn, having missed earnings forecasts in four of the last five quarters.

Rolls-Royce’s (RR) share price has certainly been flying, almost doubling over the past year as its successful turnaround put its pandemic woes firmly in the rear-view mirror. Dividends have been reinstated after a five-year hiatus and its share price nudged up again in January on news of a £9bn contract to power UK nuclear submarines.

Investors also loaded up on UK large-caps, with housebuilder Taylor Wimpey (TW) making its debut as its share price continued to slide. Its latest numbers may have hit market expectations but it will be hoping for further interest rate cuts to revive a struggling sector.

Half of the most-sold companies also featured on the most-bought, proving that one (wo)man’s treasure is another’s trash.

Investors took the opportunity to sell Lloyds (LLOY) on its 10% bounce, due in part to the Treasury looking to intervene in the landmark case on mis-selling of car finance.

NVIDIA, BP (BP) and L&G (LGEN) also saw profit-taking, whilst DS Smith (SMDS) bid farewell to the London Stock Exchange following its acquisition by US-listed International Paper. With UK equities continuing to trade below long-term average, and their US peers, M&A could be emptying the UK equity hopper again in 2024.

Top 5 most bought investment trusts in January

Shifting to investment trusts, January’s most-purchased trusts saw a reordering of December’s leading contenders:

Source: AJ Bell, Bestinvest, Fidelity and interactive investor

Global strategies remained the name of the game with JPMorgan Global Growth & Income (JGGI) taking the crown for the first time. JGGI offers a best-of-both-worlds income and growth mandate and, unlike most of its peers, has managed to match the stellar returns of the S&P 500 with a 5-year return of 102%.

Scottish Mortgage (SMT) was bumped into second place despite delivering a hefty 40% return in the past year. Its stakes in Amazon, NVIDIA, and Meta have benefitted from the AI gold rush, while SpaceX’s recent valuation boost has added further impetus to its unlisted portfolio.

F&C (FCIT) and Alliance Witan (ALW) continued to showcase the merits of a multi-manager approach, both boasting 10-year returns exceeding 200%. They also top the AIC’s Dividend Heroes list, having increased dividend payouts for more than 50 consecutive years.

Meanwhile Greencoat UK Wind (UKW) continued to find favour amongst investors in the sustainable infrastructure space, offering an attractive dividend yield of 9%.

Looking ahead

With fewer than eight weeks remaining to use or lose this year’s ISA allowances, this could be an opportune time to review your ISA provider as fees can have a significant impact on portfolios over time. To help investors navigate through the multitude of options on offer, we’ve produced our guide to the best stocks & shares ISA providers, including the difference in fees between the main platforms.

Looking forward, February is shaping up to be another pivotal month with corporate earnings season, fluctuating US tariffs and geopolitical tensions all in play. Will the America First administration prop up the Magnificent Seven’s valuations or might investors start looking elsewhere for returns? Stay tuned to find out…

All data as at 10/02/2025 unless stated otherwise, returns based on share price total returns.

Disclaimer

This is not substantive investment research or a research recommendation, as it does not constitute substantive research or analysis. This material should be considered as general market commentary.