London midday: Bank results send Footsie soaring
3rd Aug 2009 11:59
Footsie is posting big gains on the back HSBC and Barclays results, with an upward move from the miners on higher metal prices also helping the mood. HSBC posted a profit before tax of $5bn during the period, down from $10.2bn a year ago, but just ahead of forecasts. It said it is 'pleased' with th
Read moreLondon open: Footsie makes good progress
3rd Aug 2009 08:42
Footsie has made good progress in early dealings helped by Barclays' first half results and more gains for the miners. Barclays delivered profits of £3bn for the first half, an increase of 8% against the same period last year, despite £4.6bn of gross losses on credit market exposures and £3.3bn of
Read moreLondon close: Meek end to bumper week
31st Jul 2009 16:23
Blue chips ended a near-record breaking week on a low note. Footsie closed down sharply after disappointing second quarter consumer spending figures in the US. Insurers lead the market lower ahead of the sector's results season. Standard Life, Old Mutual, RSA Insurance, Friends Provident and Leg
Read moreLondon afternoon: US consumer spending casts pall
31st Jul 2009 14:10
The Footise dropped sharply after disappointing second quarter consumer spending figures in the US. Insurers lead the market lower ahead of the sector's results season. Standard Life, Old Mutual, RSA Insurance, Friends Provident and Legal & General are the worst performers among life assurance s
Read moreLondon midday: Equities move sideways
31st Jul 2009 12:06
Leading shares remain mixed but with a slight bias to the upside, helped by improved sentiment towards travel stocks. British Airways is a bright spot after making some positive noises to accompany its first quarter results. "While traffic volumes are down considerably compared to last year, they h
Read moreTechnical Analysis Snap: Anglo digs out reduced profits
31st Jul 2009 09:25
Anglo American this morning saw underlying earnings slump by nearly 70% in the first half of 2009. As a result profits fell by almost half to $3.63bn. However, since suspending the dividend earlier this year, the share price has enjoyed impressive gains, doubling in price from its March lows of 906
Read moreLondon open: More gains for blue chips
31st Jul 2009 08:51
London's top stocks have pushed on again helped by British Airways sounding slightly more upbeat than in recent weeks and more gains for the miners. British Airways said it will further cut capacity, parking a total of 22 aircraft during winter 2010, as it swung to a loss in the first quarter. "Whi
Read moreLondon pre-open: Small drop likely
31st Jul 2009 07:32
London's top stocks are expected to open slightly lower on what is another relatively busy day on the company news front. Traders expects Footsie to drop 6 points early on. British Airways said it will further cut capacity, parking a total of 22 aircraft during winter 2010, as it swung to a loss in
Read moreAnglo axes 15,400 as profits tumble
31st Jul 2009 07:14
Bid-threatened miner Anglo American saw underlying earnings slump by nearly 70% in the first half of 2009 as the impact of the global downturn on demand for commodities took its toll. Pre-tax profits fell to $3.63bn from $6.47bn on revenues of $11.1bn, down 38%, but underlying earnings picture show
Read moreFriday preview: Anglo American, British Airways, Rentokil
30th Jul 2009 17:07
Under siege miner Anglo American, the subject of an unwelcome merger approach from Switzerland-based peer Xstrata, will have pulled out all the stops to make its first half results look as impressive as possible. Xstrata has said that the proposed "merger of equals" would generate $1bn per annum of
Read moreLondon open: Footsie on rise again
29th Jul 2009 08:47
London is back on a rising trend after yesterday's blip that ended the eleven day upward streak. A partial recovery in the US last night that saw Wall Street end with just a small loss has helped the mood. Results have been mixed. Reckitt Benckiser demonstrated again that it lives in a different re
Read moreAnglo American pumps more into platinum unit
27th Jul 2009 14:14
Mining giant Anglo American has bumped up its lending to subsidiary Anglo Platinum by more than half to £1.6bn to cover a sharp drop in metal prices. Anglo, which owns 80% of the platinum business, raised its committed facility to AngloPlats by R7.1bn (£555m) in the six months ended 30 June to R20.
Read moreSunday newspaper round-up: Rexam, Anglo American, National Express
26th Jul 2009 11:07
Rexam, the world's largest drinks can maker, will this week launch a £350m rights issue in a move aimed at preserving its investment grade credit rating. The fundraising will make Rexam the first to warn explicitly about the need to secure fresh capital in order to maintain its investment grade sta
Read moreLondon close: Ten out of ten for Footsie
24th Jul 2009 17:13
The FTSE 100 index made it ten days of rises in a row, despite tailing off towards the close as investors looked to bank profits ahead of the week-end. It capped the best rally by the blue-chip index in five years. The rise was achieved despite dismal gross domestic product data. UK output contract
Read moreLondon afternoon: Financials find favour
24th Jul 2009 14:11
Footsie eased back a little over the lunchtime session but thanks to firm financials the blue-chip index continues to shrug off this morning's gloomy data on gross domestic product (GDP). UK output contracted 0.8% between April and June after a 2.4% decline in the first quarter, according to the Of
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