Surge in retail share trading continues

Angus Rigby, Chief Executive Officer, TD Waterhouse comments: "TD Waterhouse customers vastly increased their purchasing activity this week, with over twice as many stocks bought than sold. Overall we saw a 26% increase in trading activity, with an 82% increase in the number of shares bought compared to last week.

"The focus was once again on the banking industry, but the rush to take profits seems to have tailed off this week, with the number of sell trades in banking stocks falling by 40%. Conversely there was a 79% increase in the number of shares bought in the sector.

"HSBC joined Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), Lloyds and Barclays in the top ten buys, as Chief Executive Michael Geoghegan announced that the global banking giant had delivered its best-ever quarterly results, but warned that he didn't expect the investment banking operations to sustain the good results of the first quarter in the longer term.

"RBS sits in pole position in this week's sells table, as Credit Suisse Group AG analysts claimed they were "turning more cautious" on the UK banking industry. Meanwhile, RBS head of global banking and markets, John Hourican, has reportedly been awarded a cool £11m worth of shares and options to successfully deliver a five year turnaround plan.

"Turning to the insurance sector, TD Waterhouse customers seemed to have changed strategy with this week's top ten stats recording a 46% decrease in activity in this sector since last week. Overall, insurance stocks accounted for just 11% of our top ten sells table. Insurance giant Aviva has dropped down four positions to tenth place in this week's sells table as it considers selling its Australian business, valued at up to AUS$1bn. Legal & General, however, continues to hold fourth place in the sells but has dropped two positions to ninth place in the buys table. Perhaps a continued surge in selling activity in this particular stock is the result of Legal & General posting an unexpected 3% rise for its first-quarter new business sales.

"The mining sector continues to experience volatility. The FTSE 100 was up 1.5% on Friday 8th May, but markets fell by 0.6% on Monday 11th May causing a sell off in commodity prices which dragged mining stocks down and possibly alerted our customers to buying opportunities with companies like Kazakhmys."