Barclays tops buy table in lead up to Easter
Stuart Welch, CEO, TD Direct Investing comments: "In the lead up to the Easter break TD's top ten buys and sells tables remained relatively unchanged, with only a few tweaks to the most popular stocks among our customers. Following the three days of market activity in the week ending Monday, 9 April, the banks remained popular, with Barclays (BARC) surpassing Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) for top spot in the buys. However Gulf Keystone Petroleum (GKP) topped the sells for the third week running following the news (on Wednesday 4 April) that US advisory firm Excalibur Ventures had paid £6 million to cover legal costs prior to a court hearing over a legal dispute with Gulf Keystone due to be heard in October. The FTSE 100 closed on Thursday, 6 April at 5,723.67 with the buy: sell ratio among our customers standing at 2:1.
"Xcite Energy Ltd (XEL) rose three places to take fourth and third in the buys and sells charts respectively this week, finishing the period with a buy:sell ratio of 2.5:1 after announcing last Monday (2 April) that good progress had been made in drilling its Bentley 9/3b-7 well in the North Sea. Xcite saw its share price finish at 106.2p at close of play on Thursday (5 April), down 5% from its closing price on the day of the announcement.
"Meanwhile, Apple Inc (APPL) was a new entry to the buys table, securing joint ninth place alongside fellow new entrant, Man Group (EMG). Our customers appeared to be justified in their appetite for Apple as analysts in the US predicted that the technology giant would become the world's first $1 trillion company, possibly within the next year.
"In the sells, ninth placed newcomer, Aminex (AEX), saw its share price increase by over 9% to 6.765p during the week as it resumed drilling at the Ntorya-1 exploration well in the Ruvuma Basin, Tanzania.
"Two stocks appear in the same position in both the buys and sells tables this week. Lloyds Banking Group is the second most popular trade among TD customer's, with a buy:sell ratio of 2:1, while Range Resources (RRC) appears as the eight most popular trade with a buy:sell ratio of 1.75:1."