Greek rescue and election swell trading volumes

Investor interest returns to Falklands oil explorers on well resultsAngus Rigby, Chief Executive Officer, TD Waterhouse comments: "Trading volumes increased by 47 percent to record levels on Friday and Monday as TD Waterhouse customers sought to capitalize on the much needed confidence boost given to the markets by the Eurozone's action to avoid Greek sovereign default.

"While talk of a hung parliament continued to dominate domestic headlines over the past week, buys continued to dominate trading as strength in bank and natural resources stocks helped the FTSE100 recover from lows reached on Friday. In the week ended Tuesday 11th May, buys exceeded sells by two to one, with financial services, oil and mining stocks taking the top eight slots in the list of buys, and a clean sweep of the Top Ten sells.

"Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY), which is part-owned by the British government, was once again the most-bought stock in our top ten as the UK's political parties continued to manoeuvre following the election. Lloyds also became the most-sold stock in our top ten, beating government-controlled rival The Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) into second place, while Barclays (BARC) rounded out the top three most-bought stocks as the bank reporting season drew to a close. Among other financial services stocks, insurer Aviva plc (AV) consolidated its position in the top ten on the buy side as the company released its interim management statement.

"Customer interest in oil exploration off the Falkland Islands reignited this week as Rockhopper Exploration (RKH) reported encouraging results from its Sea Lion well in the South Atlantic. Rockhopper said initial results of the well indicated a good reservoir and that it would provide an update on oil quality once laboratory analysis has been completed. Shares in the company were the fourth most-bought and the third most-sold, while rival Desire Petroleum (DES), which is exploring in the same basin, also re-entered the top ten as the Rockhopper well results boosted optimism about exploration in the region.

"BP shares (BP) were the fifth most-bought among the top ten, and the seventh most-sold, as the company continued to work to contain a leak from one of its wells in the Gulf of Mexico, while Xstrata (XTA) was heavily traded once again amid the ongoing fallout from the Australian government's announcement to impose increased taxes on mining companies."