TD Waterhouse customers buy into small caps

Angus Rigby, Chief Executive Officer, TD Waterhouse comments: "It seems our customers may have been looking much further afield - to the far east of Russia - in the hope to make profits. Exploration and development company Amur Minerals made a surprise appearance in the top ten this week after releasing a new reserve estimate of $1.8bn for the nickel copper contained in its Russia-based Mary Krumkon deposit. The AIM-listed firm has a market cap of just £15.2 million, making it one of the smallest stocks to enter our tables. Amur's share price volatility may have been too good to miss out on, with shares climbing up from 2.665p on Wednesday to 16p on Friday after the company submitted its findings to the State Committee on Reserves for review and approval.

"Overall, top ten trading increased by 29% compared to last week, with the number of sells outweighing the buys 4%. Sells were also 41% higher than the previous week as

TD Waterhouse customers looked to cash in on share price hikes in profitable sectors.

"Taylor Wimpey built on its position in the top ten - climbing to fourth and sixth places in the buys and sells respectively as the UK housing market shows tentative signs of recovery. Following positive property data from across the pond, our customers may have anticipated the onset of a revival as they snapped up shares in the hope of making future gains. Shares in the house-builder continued to grow throughout the week - to rise by 23.42% according to Sharecast. During July, the firm witnessed a rise in orders while cancellation rates dropped to 19% for the first half of the year compared to 46% during the second half of last year.

Oil and gas explorer Gulf Keystone Petroleum also strengthened its grip of the top spots in this week's top ten - breaking the banking sectors hold on the highest positions to land third place in the top ten buys. Shares in the miner rose 101.30% over the week as the firm revealed its prospect in Northern Iraq could yield between 1.5 billion and 3 billion barrels of oil - twice as much as initially estimated. The North Africa and Middle East-focused firm accounted for 16% of the top ten buys as market savvy customers may have been scooping up the shares during the beginning of the week in the hope of making profits ahead of the firms share price hike on Tuesday."