More investors have snapped up stakes in Lloyds Banking Group, Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland in recent days, betting that these banks’ battered shares are likely to rise in the near term.

This week, the broker TD Waterhouse, reported that trading in Lloyds in the week leading up to Tuesday accounted for almost 40 per cent of all “buys” by retail investors. And shares in Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland were the second and third most popular FTSE 100-listed stocks traded as investors sought to snap up bank stocks at a discount.