London close: Stocks drop as protests to Greece's austerity deal intensify
10th Feb 2012 17:01
- Another Greek minister resigns. - Miners drag Footsie lower as copper prices fall. - Barclays pares gains as profits drop. Stocks finished the session at their lowest levels of the day as the political situation in Greece took a turn for the worse with another minister handing in her resignation
Read moreSector movers: Miners drop as copper prices tumble
10th Feb 2012 15:53
Miners were among the worst performing stocks of the day on the back of weak economic data and the ongoing crisis in Greece. Copper prices were on the decline today, after China's copper imports in January totalled 413,964 metric tons. While this was 14% higher year-on-year, it was some 19% below D
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Barclays rises despite falling profits
10th Feb 2012 13:32
Barclays was topping the risers despite reporting falling profits and revenues in 2011. Of note, the bonus pool at Barclays Capital, its underperforming investment banking arm, was cut by 32%. Critically, however, the lender raised its dividend. That may have raised confidence in the lender´s abilit
Read moreLondon midday: Achtung! Greece missing debt-cutting targets
10th Feb 2012 11:36
- German Finance Minister says Greece missing targets-Bloomberg - Barclays rises after cutting bonuses, but profits fall. - Eurogroup fails to approve Greek package. - C&W Comms drops after profit warning. Stocks continued to fall by midday after Eurozone finance ministers last night refused to g
Read moreLondon open: Footsie down after Eurogroup, but Barclays rises
10th Feb 2012 08:34
- Barclays rises after cutting bonuses, but profits fall. - Eurogroup fails to approve Greek package. - BCC welcomes BoE's QE boost. UK stocks opened cautiously with Eurozone finance ministers last night failing to approve the latest round of Greek aid. Yesterday afternoon, Greek Prime Minister Lu
Read moreSparkling performance at De Beers -UPDATE
10th Feb 2012 07:26
De Beers, the diamond mining subsidiary of mining giant Anglo American, saw a sharp rise in earnings last year. De Beers's achieved underlying earnings of $968m in 2011, against a 2010 figure of $598m. The 62% rise in earnings was revealed by Anglo American, the long time major stakeholder in the
Read moreLondon close: Stocks finish up after US data
2nd Feb 2012 16:37
After a morning session in the red, UK stocks erased losses in afternoon trading after some better-than-expected data Stateside helped the outlook for the world's largest economy. Leading the rise on the Footsie were the miners after some M&A rumours bolstered gains. Nevertheless, analysts at Digi
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Miners surge on Glencore-Xstrata merger speculation
2nd Feb 2012 14:46
Meanwhile, confirmation of a merger between Swiss commodities giants Glencore and Xstrata sent the two stocks to the top of the pile today, with Xstrata jumping 10% and Glencore rising 7%. A merger of mining outfit Xstrata and commodities trader Glencore could create a leviathan valued at around £52
Read moreSector movers: Smith & Nephew boosts health care stocks
2nd Feb 2012 14:11
The health care equipment and services sector was the best performer on Thursday afternoon after some well-received results from medical devices maker Smith & Nephew. The company saw revenue rise 3.66% to $1,106m in the final three months of 2011 from $1,067m in the corresponding quarter of last ye
Read moreLondon midday: Footsie flat despite mining strength, Xstrata surges
2nd Feb 2012 12:03
- Xstrata/Glencore surge on merger talks. - Mining strength outweighed by Astra, Unilever, Shell. - China considering increasing involvement in Eurozone rescue. The Footsie was broadly flat by lunchtime as poorly-received results from some big hitters outweighed strength in the mining sector. Mark
Read moreLondon open: Stocks pull back but Xstrata soars
2nd Feb 2012 08:35
Stocks opened slightly lower on Thursday, pulling back from the +100 point gain for the Footsie yesterday as markets celebrated positive global macroeconomic data with manufacturing indices in the UK, Eurozone, US and China all showing an improvement in January. In other news, ratings agency Standa
Read moreLondon close: Post-Fed mining surge lifts Footsie up 1.3%
26th Jan 2012 16:41
- Stocks finish near day's best levels. - Miners surge as Fed pledges low rates. - IIF willing to accept coupon rate of below 4% With gold prices jumping to a six-week high on the back of last night's statement by the US Federal Reserve, miners dominated the risers on London's FTSE 100, which clo
Read moreLondon midday: Miners gain after Fed, Polymetal rises on merger rumours
26th Jan 2012 11:50
- Miners surge as Fed pledges low rates. - IIF willing to accept coupon rate of below 4%. - Ireland returns to international bond markets. The Footsie was up 1% by midday with miners leading the advance after the Federal Reserve's move to keep interest rates low last night weakened the dollar and m
Read moreLondon open: Miners jump after Fed pledges low rates
26th Jan 2012 08:33
London's blue chip stocks rose in early trading on Thursday, following on from a surge last night on Wall Street after the Federal Reserve pledged to keep the federal funds rate low until late 2014. Meanwhile, Greece is again in focus as talks resume between private creditors and the government. The
Read moreLondon pre-open: Stocks seen higher as talks in Athens resume
26th Jan 2012 07:25
City sources expect the FTSE 100 to open up around 20 points from yesterday's close of 5,723 with Greece again in focus today as talks resume between private creditors and the government. Meanwhile, stocks surged on Wall Street last night after the Federal Reserve announced that the federal funds ra
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