TD clients turn attention to resources

Stuart Welch, CEO, TD Direct Investing comments: "The top ten trading activity increased by more than 75% during a week which saw TD clients favour both the oil and gas and mining sectors. Entering the buys in pole position and the sells in sixth place was Chariot Oil & Gas Limited (CHAR), which accounted for a fifth of the top ten buys. TD clients appeared to see Chariot as a bargain, its share price having dropped 72% in the week ending Monday 10 September as the company announced that its Kabeljou well off Namibia had failed to find commercial oil or gas and would be plugged and abandoned. Meanwhile, the FTSE 100 finished slightly higher than the previous week, closing Monday (10 September) at 5793.20.

"There were nine new entrants to our tables this week, with another oil and gas company, Falkland Oil and Gas Limited (FOGL), entering the buys table in sixth place. TD clients seemed to take the opportunity to buy shares after Falkland revealed that drilling operations on its Loligo well have been delayed, causing the share price to drop 25p on Monday (10 September) and close the week at 63p.

"Elsewhere, Rio Tinto plc (RIO) entered the sells table in eighth place following a busy week of sales and acquisitions by the mining giant. Rio Tinto saw its share price fluctuate throughout the week, as it finalised a deal with BHP Billiton plc (BLT) to buy BHP's 37% stake in Richards Bay Minerals (RBM) for $1.91 billion. Rio Tinto also confirmed the sale of the North American portion of its Alcan Cable business to General Cable Corporation (NYSE:BGC) for $151 million. Rio Tinto's share price closed the period ending 10 September at 3,116p."