TD clients trade on news agenda

Stuart Welch, CEO, TD Direct Investing comments: "TD clients appeared to trade in line with the news agenda during the week ending Monday 20 August, with the banking and mining sectors in particular making headlines. Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) moved up our most popular trades tables - taking second spot in the buys and top spot in the sells - and accounting for just over a fifth (21%) of the top ten trades overall. TD clients sold the banking giant at a ratio of 2.63:1 as it was brought into the rate-fixing investigation by Department of Financial Services in the US. Meanwhile, the FTSE 100 closed just seven points lower than the previous week, finishing Monday 20 August at 5,824.37.

"In the mining sector, Rio Tinto (RIO) and Lonmin plc (LMI) entered the buys table in joint sixth and eighth positions respectively. Lonmin's share price fell 17.6% to 608.58p in the week ending Monday 20 August after deadly clashes between strikers and police at the company's Marikana mine in Rustenburg, South Africa.

"Elsewhere, Vodafone Group plc (VOD) entered the buys table in ninth place. It appeared that TD clients took the opportunity to buy shares in the telecoms giant following the news that it is set to receive a payout worth £2.9bn from its investment in Verizon Wireless, after regulators gave the go-ahead to a deal that will give the US mobile operator wider network access. Vodafone's share price finished down 1.7% on the week, closing Monday 20 August at 186.85p."