TD Waterhouse has revealed that all eyes were on the banking sector this week as it accounted for over two thirds of the broker's top ten in the run-up to reporting season.
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Barclays led the top ten sells with 32% as
TD Waterhouse customers cashed in on its 9.29% hike in share price over the past week," says chief executive Angus Rigby.
Shares jumped 25.80p after the banking giant announced that second-half profits had more than doubled on Tuesday (16 February), thanks in part to the sale of one of its fund management units.
Meanwhile, Lloyds Banking Group led the buys, which were 19% ahead of this week's top ten sells, as its share price fell on Friday following confirmation of its plans to issue 3.14 billion new shares.
"Lloyds will place the shares through an exchange offer with investors in the final part of its £22.5 billion capital raising," notes Rigby. "The exchange will reduce the government's stake in the bank from 43% to 41% while the number of outstanding shares will become 67 billion."
Xstrata was the highest climber in the mining sector, accounting for 40% of overall top ten mining trades, while Rio Tinto appeared in fifth and tenth place of the sells and buys respectively.
