Retail remains in vogue with TD customers
Darren Hepworth, Trading and Customer Services Director, TD Waterhouse comments: "Customer buys continued to focus on retail in the week ending January 25, as figures from the Office for National Statistics showed the UK's economy had unexpectedly contracted 0.5% in the last three months of 2010. Meanwhile, the FTSE 100 recovered to 5,917.71 after temporarily dipping to 5,867.91 on January 20.
Retail peaks investment interest
"Tesco (TSCO) and Marks & Spencer (MKS) combined made up nearly 20% of the top ten buys. Marks and Spencer entered the buys table one position ahead of fifth-placed Tesco amid talk of potential changes in the way its clothing business is organised; company CEO Marc Bolland has expressed his wish to see it centred more on its in-house brands.
"The trading activity in retail did not prevent Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) from taking top spot in the buys table. The bank also maintained third place in the sells table as its share price fell sharply, closing at 63.15p on January 25. Falling share prices were a theme among the FTSE 100 banks as fear grew about their ability to raise capital. Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) - second in the buys table - topped the sells table, while Barclays (BARC) fell out of the top ten buys altogether and dropped to fourth, from first, in the sells.
"AIM-listed exploration and development company, Ortac Resources (OTC) was a notable entrant to the top ten this week, occupying seventh place and tenth place in the buys and sells respectively. This came as it announced an updated mineral resource estimate for its flagship Kremnica Gold Project in Slovakia. Meanwhile, easyJet's (EZJ) share price dropped after announcing its first-half losses could be double than expected, due to high fuel prices and tough economic conditions. The low-budget airline also took a reported £31m hit from bad weather and strikes in the run-up to Christmas.
"GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) this week received a positive opinion for its epilepsy drug, TrobaltTM, entering the top ten buys at number six. Meanwhile, new entries to the top ten sells table this week included Rolls Royce (RR), Northern Foods (NFDS) and Vodafone (VOD), which at number two, owns 45% of US telecoms company Verizon Wireless, which reported solid results this week."