CMC Invest has more than one million Australian investors registered on its trading platform, and a new report reveals the 10 ASX shares they traded most over the 2025 calendar year.
CMC Invest noted that ASX shares were traded at six times the rate of US stocks.
The broker said this indicated a strong home bias for investors who were focused on individual stocks.
Fraser Allan, Head of Premium Client Management Australia/New Zealand, said clients demonstrated "resilience and
discipline" despite volatility in the market last year.
Allan noted that many investors used the tariff-inspired rout in April to buy the dip — a trend seen by other platform providers, too.
He commented:
President Trump's April tariff announcement was one such pivotal moment, where clients acted with conviction rather than
hesitation.
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Buy/sell ratios indicate investor confidence
The data shows the percentage of trades that were buy orders and sell orders.
This provides a unique insight into how investors were viewing some ASX shares.
For example, CSL Ltd (ASX: CSL) had a clear buying skew despite the share price plummeting after the company's FY25 report in August.
The broker said:
The strong buy skew in CSL stood out as a clear example of buying into weakness, with clients adding exposure despite a significant share price decline over the year.
In the case of Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA), the buy/sell ratio was much tighter at 56% to 44%, respectively.
The CBA share price climbed to a peak of $192 in late June 2025, ending a remarkable run that had begun in November 2023.
CBA shares then commenced a steep decline, finishing the year only 4.8% up overall.
CMC Invest said:
Trading activity in Commonwealth Bank showed more two-way participation than other top traded Australian shares, with only 56% of orders on the buy side.
This could reflect a degree of polarisation in investor perspectives around company-specific factors such as valuation during 2025.
10 most traded ASX shares of 2025
Here are the 10 most traded ASX shares among the more than one million customers registered on CMC Invest's trading platform.
| Rank | Top ASX shares by trading volume | Percentage of buy orders |
| 1 | BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) | 70% |
| 2 | CSL Ltd (ASX: CSL) | 84% |
| 3 | Woodside Energy Group Ltd (ASX: WDS) | 71% |
| 4 | Fortescue Ltd (ASX: FMG) | 68% |
| 5 | DroneShield Ltd (ASX: DRO) | 62% |
| 6 | PLS Group Ltd (ASX: PLS) | 59% |
| 7 | ANZ Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: ANZ) | 56% |
| 8 | Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) | 56% |
| 9 | Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW) | 76% |
| 10 | Mineral Resources Ltd (ASX: MIN) | 60% |
Source: CMC Invest
