New research from trading platform IG has revealed heating investor sentiment around semiconductor technology which is driving staggering growth in the tech sector, led by Magnificent 7 favourite Nvidia.
Of those polled, more than a third (35%) believe semiconductors will be the highest growth sector over the next six months.
The trend extends beyond Australia – investors in the UK, Singapore, Germany and Japan all agree semiconductors will lead markets over the next half-year.
Sales hit US$51 billion
Earlier this month the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) celebrated global semiconductor industry sales hitting US$51.3 billion during the month of July.
That marks a 2.7% increase from the month before and an 18.7% increase compared to the same period in July 2023.
“The global semiconductor market continued to grow substantially on a year-to-year basis in July and month-to-month sales increased for the fourth consecutive month,” SIA president and CEO John Neuffer said.
“The Americas market experienced particularly strong growth in July, with a year-to-year sales increase of 40.1%.”
Younger traders lead the charge
Interestingly, the enthusiasm for semiconductor technology – and the Artificial Intelligence tech driving its demand – differs greatly across age groups.
Millennials were the most optimistic, with 69% viewing AI as a way of obtaining a substantial edge, compared to just 56% of Baby Boomers.
Over one-third of Australian traders (36%) also plan to incorporate AI tools or algorithms into their trading strategies within the next 12 months, demonstrating a proactive shift toward advanced tools.
Those attitudes are reflected in the market – the most popular stocks traded in Australia by June 2024 were:
- Nvidia, at 5.96% of all trades on the IG platform;
- Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) (3.01%);
- GameStop (NYSE:GME) (2.07%); and
- Counter-drone and AI defence company DroneShield Ltd (ASX:DRO, OTC:DRSHF) (2.05%).
Watch: DroneShield with Proactive at ASX Small and Mid Cap Conference