It’s been a rollercoaster ride for many businesses this year, but those in the technology sector have certainly done well in the financial markets.
Popular tech brands from the United States emerged as the most-traded stocks among UAE and global investors this year, according to Saxo Bank.
Billionaire Elon Musk’s Tesla and iPhone maker Apple tied in the first place for attracting the highest trading volumes among Saxo Bank’s investors in UAE.
American tech giants Microsoft and Amazon came in second and third, respectively.
However, the only non-American brand on the list was Nio. The Chinese upstart emerged as the fourth-most popular stock in the UAE market.
Across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region, however, Boeing and Facebook tied in the first spot, followed by Zoom Video Communications in the second place.
Chinese tech giant Alibaba emerged as the third-most traded stock, while vaccine maker Moderna turned out to be the fourth most popular.
Unprecedented change
Many tech companies have accelerated their business during the coronavirus outbreak, primarily driven by the change in consumption and lifestyle habits due to the pandemic. The trend has attracted more investors to bet on tech brands in the equity markets.
“COVID-19 has amplified the participation rate of retail investors in equity markets, a trend that was already underway before COVID-19 and mainly driven by younger people. The growing influence of retail traders has altered equity markets and created a new environment that has made it more difficult for traditional institutional investors to navigate,” said Peter Garnry, head of equity strategy at Saxo Bank.
“This year was all about the online versus offline world as technology companies were catapulted into the future by the COVID-19 pandemic while many physical industries such as aviation, travel, leisure, hospitality and automobiles came under significant pressure due to the severe restrictions and lockdowns,” Garnry said.
(Writing by Cleofe Maceda; editing by Seban Scaria)
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© ZAWYA 2020
