Buys up 50% among TD customers as banks top tables
Darren Hepworth, Global Trading and Product Director, TD Waterhouse comments: "Buys among TD customers were up by over 50% in the week ending Tuesday, 18 October as Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) climbed back to the summit of the most popular buys table, accounting for over a quarter of our customer top ten buy trades. The sharp increase in buys meant the buy:sell ratio stood at approximately 1.25:1 after sells had outnumbered buys by nearly 2:1 the previous week. Meanwhile, Barclays (BARC) was our customers' most popular sell for the third week in a row.
"Lloyds, Barclays and fellow banking giant Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) combined to make up nearly half of our customers' overall top ten trades this week, taking the top three spots respectively in the buys table and fourth, first and second in the sells. BP (BP) was the only non-banking stock to break into the top three of either of our tables, rising from ninth to third in the sells. BP's move came amid news on Tuesday (18 October) that its Russian joint venture, TNK-BP, announced it was considering taking part in a lawsuit for billions of dollars over BP's failed alliance with Rosneft.
"The claim for the highest new entry of the week belonged to oil and gas explorer, Bowleven (BLVN), which took fifth place in the buys after announcing a significant discovery at its Sapele-3 well off the coast of Cameroon on Friday (14 October). Bowleven's share price increased significantly as a result of the news, opening at more than 128p on Monday (17 October), having closed the previous Thursday at 76p before the discovery was made public. Some TD customers appeared to cash in on Bowleven's news however, as the company also entered the sells in eighth place.
"The world's largest hedge fund, Man Group (EMG), re-entered the buys table this week as the company's share price reached its lowest level for a decade on Thursday (13 October). TD customers appeared to take a shine to the bargain share price, which slipped after Man Group announced that the net asset value of its AHL Diversified Plc fund had recently declined 5.5% in a week.
"Ninth and 10th places in the buys table were occupied by new entrants G4S (GFS) and Thomas Cook Group (TCG) respectively. News emerged on Monday (17 October) that security giant G4S, had agreed to buy ISS, the Danish services provider, for £5.2 billion. However, analyst concerns about the funding and strategy behind the deal - and whether G4S will be able to integrate the two companies - saw its share price fall from a 281p closing price on Friday (14 October) to 222p at close the following Monday."