Retail investors took advantage of the glimmer of hope for an end to the pandemic offered by pharmaceutical corporation Pfizer Inc with a huge 905 per cent increase in open positions in the stock on investment platform eToro In November.Pfizer’s vaccine announcement caused the FTSE 100 to increase 4.7 per cent on the day of the announcement, the biggest one-day gain since March. Other pharmaceutical companies also announced vaccine news, such as Moderna who also jumped into the top ten with a 672 per cent increase in open positions in November.
Despite strong performances from the vaccine producers and the impact of Black Friday on ecommerce names, Chinese automobile manufacturer Nio maintained its top spot for November, with a 219 per cent month-on-month increase. Nio made its first appearance in the top 10 in July and, apart from a brief hiatus in September, has maintained its inclusion in the rankings since then.
Retail investors keen to benefit from Singles Day piled into Alibaba in November pushing the stock to fourth in the rankings.
Tech continued to be a consumer favourite with household name Tesla holding its 2nd place ranking this month and less well-known tech companies such as Jumia Technologies and Palantir Technologies also making the top 10. Palantir listed on the NYSE on 2 October and has risen from USD9.20 to USD26.22 in that time.
Adam Vettese, analyst at eToro, says: “The positive news this month from Pfizer gave hope to millions around the globe, including investors who jumped at the chance to invest in a possible cure for the pandemic. The stock jumped a whopping 47 places to become the 7th most popular stock on the eToro platform in November, and something tells me it won’t be the last month that it features in our top 10.
“Nio retained its crown as the top stock on the eToro platform in November. The competitor to Tesla saw an increase of 219% this month showing continued investor excitement. Tech stocks also maintained their popularity with Tesla, Amazon and Jumia Technologies featuring in the top 10, proving that technology is still of huge interest to investors, despite the much-lauded rotation to value which many have signalled.
“With Christmas shopping well underway we expect e-commerce giants such as Amazon to remain popular and potentially climb nearer the top of the table. Forthcoming vaccine news is likely to help Pfizer hold onto its top 10 spot in December and we may well see Moderna rise up the rankings.”
