Investors plump for black gold and financials

Investor activity in the FTSE 100 shot up by 15% in the week to Tuesday 5 July, figures from TD Waterhouse have revealed. At the end of the week, the FTSE had climbed back above the 6,000 mark.

Some of the UK's largest banking groups featured in the top ten buys table, but Lloyds Banking Group was knocked from the top spot.

The most purchased stock in the week was oil explorer Xcite Energy, which accounted for a quarter of all buys in the week.

The spike in activity was driven by an announcement by the Treasury which said it would increase the level of tax support for North Sea oil explorers. Xcite's share price reacted positively to the news, reaching a high of 247p, having finished the previous day at 173p.

Lloyds Banking Group featured prominently in both the buys and sells tables again, in a week in which it announced that thousands more jobs would be cut across the business.

It was the second most purchased stock in the week, as well as the most sold equity.

The Royal Bank of Scotland was the third most bought share, but also featured as the fourth most sold stock, while Barclays was the fourth most bought and third most sold stock in the week.

Darren Hepworth, trading and customer services director at the broker, said that oil and financials accounted for 85% of all buys in the period.