Investors increase buy trades as FTSE 100 flags

Angus Rigby, Chief Executive Officer, TD Waterhouse comments: "Buy trades increased this week, outnumbering sells by almost two to one, as the FTSE 100's July rally showed signs of flagging after disappointing US banking results and reports of faltering US consumer confidence.

"Once again, TD Waterhouse customers focused most of their trading on banks and energy companies in the week ended Tuesday 20th July, with BP (BP) topping both the buys and sells list as it continued efforts to put an end to the spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The oil major also underwent discussions with Apache, the largest independent oil company in the US by market value, to divest assets in the US, Canada and Egypt.

"Petro Matad (MATD) appeared for the first time on this week's top ten as the latest oil explorer to attract the attention of TD Waterhouse customers. Headquartered in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, it entered the buys list in fourth place and the sells list in fifth place on news of an oil discovery in its native country.

"Bank buys jumped 44% while sells fell 59%, as UK banking shares fell on weakness in Wall Street and led the decline in the FTSE 100. Buys in Barclays (BARC) nearly quadrupled, making it the most-bought bank, while Lloyds (LLOY) continued to be the most-sold bank. Only RBS (RBS), however, was sold more than it was bought, as the bank continued with its asset disposal programme by seeking bids for RBS WorldPay, its global merchant services division.

"Aside from bank and energy company trading, there were also new entries to the top ten buys including Aquarius Platinum (AQP), which came in at ninth place, after a crackdown on mine safety by the South African regulators appeared to be less stringent than initially expected and Tesco (TSCO) was the fifth most-bought stock this week after releasing its second quarter earnings and announcing plans to expand its Ireland operations.

"In addition, video search technology firm Blinkx (BLNX), re-entered the buys list in tenth and sells list at ninth after a deal to supply a video application to Samsung's new Galaxy S smartphone handset sent shares up 18%."