BP shares were the most popular sell for retail stock investors this week, while oil and gas explorers were the focus for buys.

The top 10 buys and sells data published by TD Waterhouse for the week ending Thursday 7 October, showed Encore Oil, an AIM-listed oil explorer, had become the second most popular share to buy.

Trading and customer services director at TD Waterhouse, Darren Hepworth, said: “Encore Oil jumped from fifth to second in the buys after announcing promising results from a sidetrack well in its Cladhan oil field in the North Sea.”

The sector saw a lot of activity amongst TD Waterhouse customers, with senior management changes at oil explorers Nighthawk Energy and Regal Petroleum.

The nine and ten spots on the buys list were occupied by North Sea-focused Xcite Energy and Central-Europe focused Matra Petroleum.

BP shares accounted for 31 per cent of sells, following a pledge by the firm to use some of its assets as collateral for the compensation fund related to the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.

Shares in Barclays Bank were the most popular buy for clients, with significant activity around other banking shares; Lloyds shares were the second-most sold stock behind BP. Royal Bank of Scotland shares were third in the sells list and sixth in the top-ten buys.

On 8 October, Barclays shares were down slightly at lunchtime following news that an investment vehicle linked to the Abu Dhabi royal family had entered into a hedging deal with the Japanese bank Nomura on its capital investment in Barclays, to secure an agreed level of profit.

A statement on the London Stock Exchange said the exercise marked the completion of a strategy that ‘locks in a significant gain on Barclays PLC shares for PCP3 [the investment vehicle] while retaining further upside.’

© Fair Investment Company Ltd