Angus Rigby, chief executive officer of TD Waterhouse, reflects on retail trading activity in June.

TD Waterhouse customers continued to trade heavily during June, with the top ten buys more than a third (34 per cent) higher than sells, as market volatility continued to present opportunities. Banking trades remained the most popular, with Lloyds Banking Group, Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) holding the top three positions in both tables. However, the overall trading volume in banking stocks fell by a third (32 per cent) from May.

Instead, investor interest shifted towards the mining sector, amid speculation of a commodity price revival, driving shares in the sector to their highest level in eight months. Indeed, June saw a 22 per cent surge in mining trades compared with May, accounting for 26 per cent of the buys and 16 per cent of the sells.

Xstrata came up as our customers’ most popular mining stock in June, accounting for 31 per cent of the mining trades. June saw the firm gear up to make a takeover bid for rival Anglo American, only to be rejected at the end of the month. But the Swiss-based group now ponders a second proposal with talk of a cash incentive to win over Anglo investors after their dividend was cut earlier in the year.

Our customers were also keen to invest in Nighthawk Energy, with buys 35 per cent higher than sells, following the US-focused oil group’s decision to abandon the sale of its Jolly Ranch prospect in Colorado. The energy firm opted instead to sell its 50 per cent stake in Kansas-based project Centurion to Osceola Hydrocarbons in a US$5 million cash deal.

Kazakhmys, Rio Tinto and BP also entered the top ten, as customers were eager to cash in on falling prices towards the end of June. BP climbed into eighth place in the top ten buys after a successful month that saw the sale of its Greek ground fuels marketing business to Hellenic Petroleum for e359 million. The oil major also confirmed it has appointed Ericsson chief executive Carl-Henric Svanberg as the replacement for current chairman Peter Sutherland.

Finally, telecoms giant Vodafone talked its way into the top ten sells following May’s buying frenzy. Our customers traded heavily in the mobile network operator – snapping up 20 per cent more buys than sells as the firm considers a bid for T-Mobile UK. The shares reached a peak of 122.04p in mid-June, up from around 116.00p at the end of May.