ASX tech shares have been dominating the ASX news cycle over the past few weeks and months. Whether it's Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) or Xero Limited (ASX: XRO) making new all-time highs every week or Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P) shares rocketing more than 600% since March, these tech shares are never far from the headlines these days.
So I thought I would examine which ASX tech shares are the most dominant on the ASX today. The S&P/ASX All Technology Index (ASX: XTX) is the ASX index that tracks the tech space in Australia, so let's take a look at the top 5 shares that move this index.
1) Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT)
No real surprise that Afterpay takes the ASX crown with an 18% weighting in the index. Afterpay has been on an incredible run in recent months. After bottoming out at $8.01 in mid-March, Afterpay shares made yet another fresh record high at $76.62 in intraday trade yesterday – a trough to peak rise of 857% in just the last 3.5 months.
2) Xero Limited (ASX: XRO)
The second-largest ASX tech share in the index is cloud-based accounting software giant Xero with a 10.8% weighting. This is another company that investors can't get enough of these days. Xero shares have climbed nearly 60% since their March lows and made a new all-time high just yesterday of $94.31.
3) Seek Limited (ASX: SEK)
Seek takes out the ASX tech bronze medal with an 8.2% weighting. Seek is the largest provider of online classifieds in the jobs and employment space. With its $7.55 billion market capitalisation, Seek is one of the companies that managed to effectively disrupt the old newspaper's fabled 'rivers of gold' classifieds business model. Unlike Afterpay and Xero though, Seek shares haven't been able to top their February highs just yet, although the Seek share price is still up nearly 80% from its March lows.
4) Computershare Limited (ASX: CPU)
Computershare is something of an 'under the radar' tech share these days. It has been around a while too, having started life back in 1978. This company makes a crust by managing share registries, corporate stock accounts and employee share plans. Chances are if you invest in ASX shares already, you will be familiar with its services. Like Seek, Computershare shares are still a ways off of their pre-March highs, although investors would have enjoyed the stock's 55% surge since its March lows.
5) REA Group Limited (ASX: REA)
REA is our fifth and final ASX tech share on the XTX index. Another 'newspaper disrupter' at its heart, REA runs realestate.com.au – the most popular online real estate marketplace in Australia by a long-shot. This company has made its investors an absolute fortune over the past 2 decades with the REA share price up a staggering 37,400% since July 2000. REA shares took a big tumble in the March crash this year, but have since recovered more than 60% from their lows.
Foolish takeaway
AS you can see, ASX tech shares come in all shapes and sizes. But as this sector has shown in recent months, the tech space can be one of the most lucrative to invest in. The ASX tech index is one that deserves to be watched closely going forward, and I think all ASX investors should be familiar with its major holdings.
