{"id":867539,"date":"2025-07-08T12:33:08","date_gmt":"2025-07-08T16:33:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.marketnewsdesk.com\/index.php\/schwab-trading-activity-index-stax-score-climbs-slightly-after-three-months-of-decline\/"},"modified":"2025-07-08T12:33:08","modified_gmt":"2025-07-08T16:33:08","slug":"schwab-trading-activity-index-stax-score-climbs-slightly-after-three-months-of-decline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.marketnewsdesk.com\/index.php\/schwab-trading-activity-index-stax-score-climbs-slightly-after-three-months-of-decline\/","title":{"rendered":"Schwab Trading Activity Index\u2122: STAX Score Climbs Slightly After Three Months of Decline"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Schwab Trading Activity Index\u2122: STAX Score Climbs Slightly After Three Months of Decline<\/b><\/p>\n

Schwab clients were sellers of equities in June; Net selling was highest in the Information Technology, Financial and Communication Services sectors<\/i><\/p>\n

WESTLAKE, Texas–(BUSINESS WIRE<\/a>)–
\nThe Schwab Trading Activity Index\u2122 (STAX) increased slightly to 40.66 in June, up from its score of 39.68 in May. The only index of its kind, the STAX is a proprietary, behavior-based index that analyzes retail investor stock positions and trading activity from Schwab\u2019s millions of client accounts to illuminate what investors were actually doing and how they were positioned in the markets each month.<\/p>\n

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https:\/\/www.businesswire.com\/news\/home\/20250708808831\/en\/<\/a><\/p>\n

\nThe reading for the four-week period ending June 27, 2025, ranks \u201clow\u201d compared to historic averages.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cOne theme that carried throughout the June STAX period was the rotation into industrial and discretionary sectors and away from tech,\u201d said Joe Mazzola, Head Trading and Derivatives Strategist at Charles Schwab. \u201cThe industrial sector has been a top performer year-to-date, with all the talk of onshoring leading to increased infrastructure investment.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nAs the S&P 500 index (SPX) set new record highs in June and climbed more than 5%, Schwab clients gingerly dipped their toes in the water but stayed cautious. The STAX climbed for the first month after three straight declines, but by less than 2.5% and not much above May’s two-year lows.<\/p>\n

\nThe STAX improved the first three weeks of June but declined in the final full week of the month. And while up slightly on a month-to-month basis, the STAX remains well below its 2025 high of 51.94 posted in February and was outpaced by the SPX for the fourth straight month, hinting at prolonged caution by clients.<\/p>\n

\nTech has now seen strong selling by clients since December, excepting a short period of optimism in late January and early February. Meanwhile, the trend toward buying of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) as opposed to individual stocks also remained popular, according to the June STAX data.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cFor the fifth month in a row, information technology was the biggest net-sell sector on a dollar basis, and the reason we\u2019re seeing big net-outflows in tech is really Nvidia-based,\u201d said Mazzola. \u201cThis was the second month in a row of selling in Nvidia, and the selling came despite Nvidia\u2019s shares climbing around 15% during the period amid optimism about U.S. trade with China and rising demand for AI chips overall. Microsoft also saw net-selling as its shares hit new record highs. This could suggest clients getting nervous about the velocity of these moves and trimming into strength.”<\/p>\n

\nStock market volatility fell again in June, easing as investors expected positive outcomes on both the tariff and U.S. budget front and despite geopolitical rumblings centered on war in the Middle East. The CBOE Volatility Index\u00ae<\/sup> (VIX) traded well below its historic average of 20 by late June.<\/p>\n

\nThe May U.S. Nonfarm Payrolls report showed 139,000 jobs created, slightly above expectations but down from a revised 147,000 in April, as unemployment remained low at 4.2%. Participation in the labor market fell to 62.4% from 62.6%, a reversal from April’s gain.<\/p>\n

\nInflation reports in June offered fresh signs of price growth retreating, though not approaching the Federal Reserve’s 2% target. The May Consumer Price Index (CPI), Producer Price Index (PPI), and Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) index generally featured price growth slowing from April, though core PCE that subtracts volatile food and energy prices rose 2.7% year over year, a slightly higher-than-expected reading.<\/p>\n

\nThe Fed kept rates unchanged at its June meeting at a target range of 4.25% to 4.5%, where it’s been since December. Personal income fell a sharp 0.4% in May while spending slipped 0.1%. The reduced spending could reflect demand having been pulled forward into earlier in the year by tariff-based inflation worries.<\/p>\n

\nTreasury note yields slipped in June, with the Treasury market gaining despite worries that the Republican budget plan could significantly raise U.S. debt (yields trade inversely to Treasuries). Yields fell below 4.3% for the benchmark 10-year note by late June, down about 30 basis points from a month earlier and not far from two-month lows.<\/p>\n

\nPopular names bought by Schwab clients during the period included:<\/p>\n