Market Insights

TradeStation clients kept their focus on the Nasdaq in January, with stocks on the exchange enjoying their biggest rally in three years.

Nine of the 10 busiest symbols on our platform last month were listed on the Nasdaq. Most of the top names were prominent large-cap technology firms that struggled in the fourth quarter and have bounced more recently.

All told, the Nasdaq-100 rose 9.1 percent in January, its best month since October 2015. The index is now back to its highest level since early December. Make sure to check out David’s weekly recap on Monday for more.

Here’s the list of TradeStation’s most active symbols last month:

1. SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY):The market-tracking fund, the only non-Nasdaq issue on the list, held its top place from December.
2. Apple (AAPL): The smartphone giant held its No. 2 spot.
3. Netflix (NFLX): The streaming-video stock rose from seventh in December.
4. Nvidia (NVDA): The chip company rose two notches.
5. Amazon.com (AMZN): The e-commerce giant inched down one spot.
6. PowerShares QQQ Trust (QQQ): The Nasdaq-tracking fund dropped from No. 3 in December.
7. Advanced Micro Devices (AMD): The semiconductor company returned to the list, rising from 12th the previous month.
8. Facebook (FB): The social-media giant rose from No. 10.
9. PowerShares QQQ Trust (TQQQ): The Nasdaq-tracking fund slipped from eighth place in December.
10. Micron Technology (MU): The memory-chip stock rose from the No. 14 spot.

Companies exiting the list:

• General Electric (GE): The struggling industrial slipped from No. 5 in December to 13th in January.
• iPath S&P 500 VIX (VXX): The volatility-tracking ETN moved down from No. 9 to 16th in January.