British retail investors are showing tentative signs of buying stocks for the first time since last May.
Shareholder consultants Capita Registrars said today UK private investors turned positive on equities between December and February after six months of net selling.
UK stocks rose 25 per cent between May last year and the end of February.
Investors' move into equities was modest, however, amounting to just a net £122 million in the three months.
"Over the last 12 months since the market reached its low point in early March 2009, retail investors have added just £535 million in net terms to their holdings, despite having traded a total of £11.1 billion of equities overall," the firm said.
It noted, however, there had been a slight switch away from defensive stocks towards cyclical ones.
Overall, UK retail investors ended February owning £167 billion of equities, the highest level since May 2008. Their holdings equalled 9.74 per cent of the UK main market.
Reuters