Bank shares most bought and sold over 2008

In a year that will define banking around the world for the coming decades, 208 saw shares in banks bought and sold more than any other.

TD Waterhouse reports the top five most bought shares by its customers were all banks – as falling share prices encouraged some to try to buy a perceived bargain.

The most bought stock was Royal Bank of Scotland, followed by Barclays, Lloyds TSB, HBOS and Bradford & Bingley.

Four out of the top five sells of 2008 were also banks. The list was again headed by RBS, ahead of Barclays, Lloyds TSB, HBOS and Vodafone.

Angus Rigby, chief executive of TD Waterhouse, said: "This year the top four positions in both the buys and sells tables are occupied by the same four banks; Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), Barclays, Lloyds TSB and HBOS.

“Looking at the trades in more detail, we have seen buy activity in all four banks outweigh sell activity by 67%, indicating that customers still look for value in falling share prices.”

He added: "In contrast to last year the Financial Services sector as a whole has suffered a huge drop in confidence, falling to 16th place in our Investor Confidence survey for 2008(compared to 2nd place in 2007).

“Nevertheless, avid trading activity among our customers clearly shows that people still have an appetite to invest despite the number of high profile casualties we have seen across the globe this year. “

When asked which sectors people thought would perform the best in early 2009, respondents in the TD Waterhouse poll opted for the Energy and Mining sector.

But overall moral is low, with saying they were 64 per cent were less confident in the prospects for the market than a year ago.

"However, as one door closes another opens. Investors are remaining resourceful and willing to broaden their horizons in order to seek out new investment opportunities,” Mr Rigby said.

“International investment goes from strength to strength with the number of UK investors holding shares in international companies increasing by 17 per cent to 46 per cent in 2008 - and this is a trend that looks set to continue for 2009."