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

After investors had weathered a tricky February, March marked the calm before the storm. US markets once again moved down slightly in preparation for April’s Liberation Day, when President Donald Trump was due to announce his decision on tariffs – by David Brenchley

Whether stock markets believed that Trump would go ahead with them is unclear, but hindsight suggests they were rather complacent. In the event, the S&P 500 fell c. 5.6% and the Nasdaq 100 declined by c. 7.6% through March, according to FE fundinfo.

Worse for UK-based investors came in the form of currency movements. The pound gained c. 3% against the US dollar in March, meaning losses were amplified. The Vanguard S&P 500 UCITS ETF lost c. 7.8% during the month, while the Invesco EQQQ Nasdaq 100 UCITS ETF dived by c. 10%.

Elsewhere, other markets fell by slightly less in local currency terms, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 losing c. 3.5%, the UK’s blue-chip FTSE 100 down c. 2% and Germany’s DAX 30 sliding 1.7%.

Below, we round up the top buys and sells for UK retail investors during March, including purchases that some may argue were poorly timed…

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

Catching falling knives

There were plenty of familiar names at the top of investors’ list, in particular the stock du jour, chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA). Jensen Huang’s behemoth continued to captivate attention, sitting in second place as investors continued to buy the dip. Nvidia’s shares fell a further c. 13% in March, to take their fall since November’s record high to c. 29% (they have since fallen even further to trade c. 37% lower).

Tesla (TSLA) was another stock on which investors were to buy the dip. The electric carmaker more than doubled in the run-up to and aftermath of Trump’s election win, but have since plunged by more than half.

Again, seven of the top 10 most-bought stocks were UK-listed, with usual suspects Rolls-Royce (RR.) and BAE Systems (BA.) benefitting from investors loading up on companies set to benefit from rising defence spending by European nations.

One new addition that many expect to gain from this trend is QinetiQ (QQ.) which provides a plethora of technology-related solutions to companies in the defence and security markets. Products made by QinetiQ range from missile detection systems to cyber security advice to systems allowing the launch of aircraft on naval ships. Shares popped c. 30% during the first half of March, rising with the wider defence sector, but had erased all their gains by the end of the month after a profit warning.

On the other side of things, investors continued to take profits from some of their better-performing UK-listed holdings. UK banks have seen strong share price gains in the past three years, coinciding with a period of interest rates that have remained high relative to their post-financial crisis history. Banks’ profitability increases as interest rates rise.

Indeed, Barclays (BARC) and Lloyds (LLOY) saw share price total returns of c. 62% and 47% respectively in the 12 months to the end of March – returning more than Nvidia. This seems to have been enough to convince investors to start taking profits.

Similar was true of British Airways-owner International Consolidated Airlines (IAG), which had seen a share price total return of c. 50% in the 12 months to end-March, though had seen shares retrace since early February, with investors continuing to take profits.

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

Staying global

There were few surprises at the top of investors’ buy list when it came to investment trusts, with Scottish Mortgage (SMT) and JPMorgan Global Growth & Income (JGGI) remaining the top two in the list.

Re-entering the top five after a one-month hiatus was the global multi-manager trust Alliance Witan (ALW), which fell c. 8% in March in share price terms. Craig Baker, chairman of the Alliance Witan investment committee, recently spoke at our ISA season events series, which you can re-watch here.

Craig reiterated the importance of ensuring that every stock in the underlying portfolio is a ‘best idea’, rather than being held as a risk-control mechanism. He noted that most funds outperform in their top 10 or 20 overweight positions with the rest of the portfolio tending to destroy value.

Another regular was the wind farm owner-operator Greencoat UK Wind (UKW), which bargain-hunters continue to nibble at. UKW’s yield is now just shy of 10% and it remains a potential beneficiary of interest rate cuts as and when they come.

Finally, City of London (CTY) also re-emerged in the list, as investors sought out the relative low valuations of their domestic market by investing in the biggest and cheapest trust of its peer group with the longest track record of dividend increases (of any trust).

A less than tariffic outlook

The second quarter of 2025 has started on a more sombre note for financial markets, with Trump’s tariffs well and truly implemented and volatility, as measured by the VIX, reaching levels not seen since the worst of the coronavirus outbreak five years ago.

It remains to be seen how the current market turmoil plays out. As ever, we have no idea what will come next. Indeed, merely hours after I’d finished writing this article, Trump’s volte-face in announcing a 90-day tariff pausecaused markets to soar, with the Nasdaq up c. 12% by close of play on Wednesday; futures suggest it will start trading c. 2% lower on Thursday. Keep calm and carry on.

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.