BNPL, gold & beaten-down travel stocks were investor favourites in June

The latest round of June data on Australian investment patterns has been released, this time from the investing.com platform.

The numbers showed that Flight Centre (ASX:FTC) attracted the most interest, as investors assess the outlook for beaten-up travel stocks as the global economy navigates the pandemic.

Two other travel stocks — Qantas (ASX:QAN) and Webjet (ASX:WEB) — also ranked in the Top 10 most-searched list for June.

Elsewhere, the heat surrounding the buy now, pay later (BNPL) sector was also reflected in investor behaviour on the site, with Zip Co (ASX:Z1P) ranking as the second most searched company.

From its March lows, Zip Co has climbed by more than 500 per cent, mirroring other gains in the sector as BNPL companies continued to report strong growth in user numbers throughout the June quarter.

“To see two companies outside the S&P/ASX 50 top our rankings of the most viewed equities is unusual, however not entirely surprising given the unprecedented economic climate we are now in,” senior analyst Jessie Cohen said.

The outsized presence of travel stocks indicates investors are “closely monitoring the heavily impacted travel and tourism sector for opportunities to get value”, Cohen added. However, “the second wave of COVID in Victoria indicates it may be too soon yet”.

BNPL still hot

“The other clear trend is that buy-now pay-later companies remain the hottest commodity on the market – both established players such as Afterpay and Zip Co, and for investors looking to get in early on rising companies Splitit and OpenPay,” Cohen said.

Interest in battery manufacturing play Novonix (ASX:NVX) also surged in June, which investing.com attributed to the Tesla effect, following rumours Novonix may be joining forces with the carmaker due to the similarities between their cathode technology.

Month-on-month interest in Novonix surged by around 970 per cent compared to May, which put it at the top of the trending stocks list ahead of BNPL competitors Splitit (ASX:SPT) and OpenPay (ASX:OPY).

In resources, the big end of town fell out of favour as BHP (ASX:BHP), Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) and Fortescue (ASX:FMG) all saw the largely monthly decline in search interest.

Within the red hot gold sector, WA-based Bellevue Gold (ASX:BGL) trended higher in June. The stock is now trading above $1 — a healthy gain for investors who got on board early in the company’s journey when it traded at 2.5c.

Investing.com’s monthly data is generated from activity on its site which attracts almost 500,000 unique users per month in the Australian market.