Despite the market turbulence, individuals remained very active on the equity markets in the second quarter, show the latest data from the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF).
Between April and June, 931,000 people in France placed buy or sell orders for shares admitted to trading on a European Union platform, i.e. 138,000 more than in the 1st quarter: a number that is close to the records of the 2nd quarter of 2021 (934,000) and the 4th quarter of 2019 (945,000, driven by the initial public offering of La Française des Jeux).
A stable volume of transactions
During this very turbulent period for the stock market indices – with a notorious drop in speed in June – the stalling of the markets, weighed down by a set of factors (continuation of the war in Ukraine, confinements in China, normalization of monetary policies and recovery bond rates, etc.), cost technology and growth stocks dearly, the same securities whose spectacular rally had attracted many “newcomers” to the stock market after the March crash.
In France, the number of transactions carried out by individuals on shares admitted to trading in Europe remained stable compared to the 1st quarter, at 10.82 million. But with a CAC down more than 16% since the start of the year (its 20-day moving average has fallen below 6,000 points), retail investors have mainly gone sellers, with 639,000 sellers for 599,000 buyers, while the bid-ask balance was largely positive in the 1st quarter (+68.0000).
64,000 new buyers
Among the buyers, who all in all remained almost as numerous as in the 1st quarter, and still above the quarterly average recorded last year (568,750), the AMF also recorded 64,000 new investors, some having tried to take advantage of some market opportunities.
For now, the general mood in financial markets remains cautious, and analysts’ momentum is clearly bearish. ” The last six months have been marked by an unprecedented erosion of market sentiment and the outlook is bleak for multinational earnings in the third quarter “, anticipates Steen Jakobsen, director of investments at Saxo Bank in a note published on Monday, July 11. ” In the current bearish episode, markets could bottom in the second half of 2022 or the first half of 2023,” he anticipates.
Inflation, driving private investment?
A continuation of the correction should logically support the number of retail sell orders over the coming months, but how much could the drop in the stock markets affect retail activity? In a context of inflationary wave, the behavior of the French vis-à-vis the investment evolve, observes for its part eToro, in the light of a barometer carried out with a panel of a thousand investors in the ‘Hexagon.
” More and more of them seem to be investing to protect themselves against risks vis-à-vis their personal situation, given the economic, political and geopolitical context. […]. The French invest more, but above all differently “, notes the broker.
According to this survey, 45% repositioned their portfolio at the beginning of June to protect themselves against risks (+7 points compared to April). Their exposure to commodities has also increased (23%, +8 points), but also that to crypto-assets (29%, +7 points), with a preference for Bitcoin, despite the fall in the market. Conversely, foreign (26%, -2 points) and domestic (50%, -6 points) equities were less popular.