TD customers capitalise on month of market volatility
Darren Hepworth, Trading and Customer Services Director, TD Waterhouse comments: "TD customers traded a mix of retail, mining, financials and oil in the week ending 29 March as an extraordinary month of upheaval in the markets comes to a close. March saw investors trading amidst continuing unrest in the Middle East, the Japanese earthquake and tsunami, as well as the Chancellor's UK budget announcement. However, despite the wealth of negative news, the FTSE closed up 169.46 points on last week's figures at 5932.17 on Tuesday, exhibiting underlying strength according to some analysts.
"TD customers appeared to see this week as a good opportunity to plump for retail with J Sainsbury (SBRY) entering the top ten buys in 10th place, as CEO Justin King announced on 23 March the supermarket had missed targets for its most recent quarter of trading. As a result Sainsbury's share price dropped nearly 25p from the previous day's closing price to a low of 330.60p. King's accompanying comments on customers being even more downbeat now than they were at the start of the credit crunch will do nothing to cheer the retail sector. The potential knock-on effect of Sainsbury's announcement saw fellow supermarket giant Tesco Plc (TSCO) also reappear in the top ten buys table. Its seventh-place came as market researcher Nielsen suggested on Tuesday (29 March) that Britons are buying a record level of their groceries on promotion.
"AIM-listed miner Berkeley Mineral Resources Plc (BMR) also jumped into the top ten buys this week as it announced on 28 March that it had conditionally agreed to acquire remaining stockpiles of lead and zinc tailings at its Kabwe Mine project in Zambia. The UK-based company saw its share price spike on Monday morning, hitting 890p after having closed at 695p the previous Friday.
"While miners were widely credited with buoying the FTSE, the banks appeared to dampen any further gains against a backdrop of concern over debt levels in Europe. Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) found itself back at the top of both the buys and sells tables, while Barclays (BARC) fell in both tables, this week occupying the ninth and 10th positions in the buys and sells tables, respectively. Meanwhile Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) gained one place in the sells table, rising to sixth, whilst experiencing a rare week out of the top ten buys."