(Aug 15): Singaporean state-owned investor Temasek Holdings Pte Ltd spent billions of dollars in the second quarter buying shares in US technology giants, just before the sector dropped in July.

Temasek increased the value of its holdings in 11 big tech firms by US$3.3 billion (RM14.64 billion) in the three months ended June 30, according to an analysis of its two most recent 13F filings. The vast bulk of the increase — some US$3.2 billion — went into six of those firms: Microsoft Corp, Apple Inc, Nvidia Corp, Alphabet Inc, Meta Platforms Inc and Amazon.com Inc.

By the end of July, however, most of those companies saw their stocks slide amid concern about the extent of artificial intelligence-related gains and fears of a recession. Alphabet and Amazon’s share prices have fallen by about 12% since the end of June, while Microsoft’s are down around 7% over that period.

Many of the tech shares held by Temasek have started to recover this week, and it is unclear how it invested since June 30. The firm may have made gains depending on its purchase price, sold right before the fall, or even snapped up more as they declined in an effort to buy the dip. With a net portfolio value of S$389 billion (US$295 billion or RM1.31 trillion) as of March 31, the purchases would have represented around 1% of its total holdings.

The multibillion dollar buying spree underscores Temasek’s commitment to ramping up investments in the US, which it said last month would be the largest destination for its capital with plans to invest US$30 billion over the next five years.