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Retail investors bought a near-record amount of stocks during Friday's market meltdown that was sparked by the emergence of a new coronaviruses variant, according to research firm Vanda.
Vanda, whose VandaTrack unit monitors retail investor activity in 9000 individual stocks and ETFs in the US, said individual investors bought $2.04 billion of equities and exchange-traded funds on Friday, the second-biggest day of net buying on record.
The July 19 buying record of $2.18 billion was set when the stock market was on the decline. Vanda noted that investors had increased their purchases of exchange traded funds.
"After the Delta sell-off in July, the retail crowd also looked to snap up some bargains, similar to what we saw on Friday," said Viraj Patel, Vanda's global macro strategist. He wrote that it was a positive sign for US equity bulls.
The US, the UK, Japan, the EU, and other government officials worldwide ordered bans and restrictions on travel from South Africa on Friday as the World Health Organization said the B. 1.1.529 variant appeared heavily altered.
The news of the variant made people worry that it would hurt the economic recovery. The S&P 500 dropped 2.5% on Friday, its worst day since February 2020, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 905 points.
US stocks rebounded as panic over Omicron appeared to ease. The S&P 500 was up by more than 1%.
Business Insider has an original article.
