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According to Angus Rigby, chief executive of TD Waterhouse, Rio Tinto benefited from the popularity of the sector this week as it climbed the buys table.
Overall, buys accounted for nearly three-quarters of the top ten trades, with Mr Rigby explaining that retail investors have been "spurred" on by the news that the UK is out of recession.
"Retail traders appeared to be looking to take advantage of the average 6.08 per cent fall in banking sector shares last week following Obama's proposals against proprietary trading," he said.
It comes after Reuters noted that mining stocks were in decline as a result of an EU investigation into a potential joint iron ore venture.
The scrutiny of the proposed deal between Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton caused both to lose ground on the FTSE 100 index this week.
Posted by Clive Arneil
