The start of this week not only ended another month of trading, but also marked the end of the first half of the turbulent first half, which captured the market amid tariffs and geopolitical clashes by U.S. President Donald Trump.
Elevated trade tensions between the United States and China are the main development this month. June began a difficult start after Trump accused China of violating the deal reached between the two countries, fearing that the trade armistice had been staggering.
But after a phone call between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, the trade representative met in London and later announced that he had agreed to the framework forward. By the end of June, Trump announced that the United States and China had signed an agreement.
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As tariff tensions ease, conflicts in the Middle East have escalated with Israel and Iran, and negotiations with the U.S. on Tehran’s nuclear program seem to have stalled. Trump announced a ceasefire from the U.S. brokerage, which Israel later accused Iran of breaking in, and then the U.S. president intervened again to help reestablish a seemingly ongoing truce since last week.
The focus has shifted to the progress of trade talks between the United States and its trading partners, as on July 9, the deadline for the resumption of Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs.
In terms of market performance last month, the UK’s FTSE 100 (^ftse) hit a new record on June 12, ending at 8884.90, but then gradually dipped before some ground was restored at the end of the month.
Meanwhile, the U.S. market stabilized in June, with the S&P 500 (^GSPC) and the technology-heavy Nasdaq (^i Tocie) playing new record highs at the end of the month.
This is the most popular stock among investors in June:
Electric Vehicle (EV) company Tesla (TSLA) appears on the list of the most purchased by interactive investors, Robinhood (Hood) and AJ Bell (AJB.L).
Although CEO Elon Musk left the role of the Trump administration’s Department of Efficiency (DOGE) at the end of May and refocused his attention on Tesla, the stock had another tough month in June and fell just over 25% year-on-year.
“The world finally got to know Tesla’s Model Y in June. Elon Musk praised its “fully autonomous” feature on the X, which may have increased investors’ appetite throughout the month.
“However, Tesla is still struggling in China, and smartphone maker Xiaomi has added pressure by joining the EV race.”
Last month, defense stocks remained popular among investors, with NATO allies announcing that they agreed to increase defense spending to 5% of their national gross domestic product (GDP) by 2035.
FTSE 100 Listing (^ftse) Rolls-Royce (RR.L) is one of the most popular stocks for investors using Interactive Investor and AJ Bell platforms. In fact, the stock was acquired in a new fresh premium and gradually grew by more than 64%.
The UK Defense Stock BAE System (BA.L) has risen nearly 60% so far this year and is also on the list of interactive investors and AJ Bell.
Read more: Major investment trends in June, from defense stocks to Tesla’s downturn in sales
“Engine maker Rolls Royce was ranked in the rankings of most buying stocks on the interactive investor platform in June, and it is no surprise, without a doubt, its outstanding stock market performance,” said Victoria Scholar, head of investment at Interactive Investor.
“Long-term Royce is the best-performing stock on the FTSE 100 during two-year, three-year and five-year periods,” she said.
“Bae has also been a prominent stock market winner in the stock market over the past six months, with stocks growing by more than 60%.”
The second most popular stock on the Robinhood list is Applied Numbers (APLD), which designs and operates digital infrastructure.
Shares in Applied Digital grew 38% year-to-date and reached an all-time high in early June after the company announced a $7 billion deal with Coreweave (CRWV).
Applied Digital said it has signed a lease agreement with CoreWeave for about 15 years. Under the agreement, Applied Digital will provide 250 megawatts of critical IT load on its Ellendale campus in North Dakota Data Center campus to host Coreweave’s AI and high-performance computing (HPC) infrastructure. Applied Digital said it is expected to generate about $7 billion (£5.1 billion) in total revenue.
Mining stocks are also popular, including in June, including the mineral exploration and development company Metal 1 (MET1.L).
“Metal ones are very popular and they want to ‘buy dip’,” said Dan Coatsworth, investment analyst at AJ Bell.
“Mining companies enjoyed huge share price rallies at their share price rallies in April and May, after a deal to expand in the U.S. through uranium and gold exploration projects. The stock then retreated sharply, perhaps prompting some investors to succumb to price weakness in a desire to rebound again.”
Stocks rose only 368% year-on-year, with the stock exchange rate in May reaching its highest point since August 2023 in the UK’s Alternative Investment Market (AIM).
Oil Professional BP (BP.L) also introduced Interactive Investor and AJ Bell (AJB.L) on the list of most popular stocks in June.
“The company not only saw its share price fall into volatility in the oil market due to tensions in the Middle East, but also was speculated by Shell’s acquisition. However, Shell has denied any acquisition interests from its competitors,” said the Interactive Investors scholar.
Volatility in the first half of this year has brought 3% of BP’s Red Shares year-to-date.
In the first six months of the year, investors’ favorite stocks reflect on the ongoing market interest in key topics such as technology and defense.
Although Chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA) has made a tough start in the year of launching DeepSeek’s lower-cost AI model, followed by widespread Trump’s tariffs and controlled its H20 chips to China’s sales.
However, stocks have changed significantly since then, with NVIDIA’s strong first quarter results in May, indicating that the company is still executing despite export chips to China.
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These results came after NVIDIA also announced deals with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, providing them with thousands of AI chips.
“NVIDIA may have been trapped in a global market sell-off in April, but many investors are still confident in the AI story. Their patience paid off after setting a new record in stocks in June,” said AJ Bell’s Coatsworth.
UK financial stocks are also popular, with Legal & Ordinary (LGEN.L), Lloyds Banking Group (Lloy.L) and HSBA (HSBA.L), and appear on the list.
Despite the volatility, investors continued to invest in U.S. and global passive funds in June, bringing them into contact with some of the world’s largest companies, such as the “Magnific 7” technology giant.
Meanwhile, Victoria Hasler, head of fund research at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “The turmoil we’ve seen in the second quarter of this year has led some investors to tend to be positive for money and trust active managers to represent their volatility.
“There are three active funds in the top ten list for June – all three of which are global equity funds, with all three good funds having a reliable record. In this environment, investors seem to prefer to stick to what they know and trust.”
In the first half of this year, U.S. and global markets were contacted, especially through passive funds.
Jason Hollands, managing director of BestInvest at Evelyn Partners, said: “Given the relatively poor performance of U.S. stocks in the first half of the year, the impact and a drop in Donald Trump’s tariff war, although this is four of the top 10 fund purchases on Bestinvest, Bestinvest is the four U.S. public welfare asset company (Usevest).
“Although the start of the year is much stronger, there is no European fund in the top 10,” he said. “It is gratifying to see an isolated British equity fund in the top 10 British British Artemis Select (0p0000v25a.l), one of our most important fund drafts. It is a best idea fund, the best one with the defender being undervalued growth companies.”
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