Investors make Barclays their top buy ahead of Q1 results

Stuart Welch, CEO, TD Direct Investing comments on the key findings from investor client buys and sells: "Barclays (BARC) took top spot in our clients' UK buys this week, asinvestors hoped for positive news from the bank's Q1 results. Despite reporting a 25% fall in overall profit this morning there was some good news, with Barclays' investment banking division reporting an 11% rise in year-on-year profits of £1.32bn. Ahead of this news, TD clients had been trading Barclays at a buy:sell ratio of 2:1 and shareholders will have the chance to enquire about the bank's progress tomorrow's annual general meeting.

"GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) was also on our clients' radar this week, entering the UK top ten sells in second position. The pharmaceutical giant reported its own Q1 results today, which showed a 26% decline in operating profit to £1.58bn compared to £2.01bn during the same period last year.

"Internationally, TD clients appeared to take advantage of General Electric's (GE) lower share price, which dropped 4% on Friday after the company disappointed investors by announcing a significant year-over-year decline in revenue. The American energy, financial and industrial conglomerate entered TD's top ten client international buys table in joint third place."

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For more information, visit tddirectinvesting.co.uk.