Glencore gains attention as it enters FTSE 100
Darren Hepworth, Trading and Customer Services Director, TD Waterhouse comments: "There was a new stock of interest to TD customers this week as Glencore International (GLEN) started full trading on Thursday (19 May) in one of the most anticipated floats in recent times. Despite the presence of a newcomer to the FTSE 100 however, it was the ever-popular oil and financial stocks that dominated both the top ten buys and sells tables in the week ending Tuesday, 24 May - a week during which the FTSE 100 remained relatively steady, closing at 5,858.41 on Tuesday.
"Glencore International (GLEN) made its debut appearance in our customer top ten buys table this week as full trading on the stock commenced and customers decided whether to buy into London's biggest ever listing. The commodities trader entered the buys table in 10th place with some analysts viewing the 530p issue price as conservative. However, by the time the stock entered the FTSE 100 after Tuesday's trading, Glencore's share price had dropped slightly, closing at 524p.
"Elsewhere, oil explorers and financial stocks were dominant, accounting for nearly 80% of the buys and 94% of the sells respectively. Two of Britain's banking giants - Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) and Barclays (BARC) - rose to the top of the buys table, clinching first and second places respectively and Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) joined its counterparts in the table in seventh place. All three companies accounted for nearly half (45%) of this week's top ten customer buys as the "big five" banks, which include Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, Santander and RBS came in for criticism when figures revealed they had missed business lending targets by £2.2billion for the first quarter of 2011.
"In oil, Gulf Keystone Petroleum (GKP) was the most popular sell this week, in addition to being the week's fifth most popular buy. It was reported on Monday (23 May) that the UK-based company is preparing to export oil from Kurdistan after the country's government asked it to start exporting at an initial volume of 5,000 barrels of oil per day. Oil exports from Kurdistan restarted in February after years of disputes with Baghdad.
"Meanwhile, BP (BP) was back in the top ten sells in fourth position, while Encore Oil (EO) was also a new entrant to the sells, taking ninth place. Encore's share price slumped last Wednesday (18 May) after the findings surrounding its latest well on the Cladhan discovery in the UK North Sea disappointed investors."
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