London midday: Mining stocks in the driving seat
9th Jul 2009 12:17
Mining stocks are behind the wheel once again and today they are driving the market higher. Silver miner Fresnillo is the best performer after being upgraded to "buy" by Citigroup. In contrast the US bank had downgraded gold miner Randgold Resources to "hold" from "buy". Elsewhere in the sector An
Read moreSector movers: Food stock updates fail to whet appetites
9th Jul 2009 11:04
Dairy group Robert Wiseman is one of the stocks keeping the food producers sector in the red, despite a relatively upbeat annual meeting statement. Volumes in the first three months of the new financial year are satisfactory and around 8.5% ahead of the same period last year courtesy of new contrac
Read moreLondon open: Miners provide early boost
9th Jul 2009 08:33
Miners are giving London's blue chips a lift in early dealings ahead of the Bank of England's decision on interest rates and the quantitative easing programme later today. Fresnillo is the best performer, up more than 5%, closely followed by Kazakhmys, Anglo American, Vedanta Resources, Antofagasta
Read moreLondon pre-open: London gets pep from Wall St. rally
9th Jul 2009 07:44
The late rally yesterday on Wall Street has put traders in a positive frame of mind ahead of the Bank of England's decision today on interest rates and the quantitative easing programme. City sources predict the FTSE 100 will open around 21 points up from the previous close of 4,140. Fund manager
Read moreGrowth slows at AB Foods
9th Jul 2009 07:01
Associated British Foods has seen year-on-year increases in revenue across the group in the first 40 weeks of its financial year. The retail division, which comprises the clothing chain Primark, saw revenues rise 20% year-on-year (yoy) in the 40 weeks to 20 June 2009. Revenue in the sugar division
Read moreThursday newspaper round-up: Mortgages, Xstrata, Anglo American
9th Jul 2009 06:11
Negative equity mortgages are being offered to customers of Nationwide that will allow homeowners once again to borrow more than the value of their intended house purchase. Nationwide has begun offering its customers suffering from negative equity a mortgage that provides up to 125 per cent of a pro
Read moreThursday preview: BoE rate decision, AB Foods, Man Group
8th Jul 2009 17:52
The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) announces its interest rate decision on Thursday. The decision itself is likely to prove a non-event with the MPC unanimously expected to keep the Bank's key lending rate unchanged, but there may be an update on the quantitative easing (QE) progr
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Miners rally aids Footsie
7th Jul 2009 14:47
Miners have rallied with the pick-up in the Dow yesterday. Rio Tinto, Kazakhmys and Vedanta are leading the sector higher. AB Foods is lower after a Bank of America downgrade. It has cut its rating to "underperform" from "hold" after its strong performance over the past three months. Reports that
Read moreMonday newspaper round-up: Lloyds Banking, Shell, BT
18th May 2009 06:20
The departure of Sir Victor Blank has opened the floodgates on City demands for Lloyds Banking Group to unwind its fateful merger with HBOS which led to the chairman's downfall. A powerful combination of investors as well as business and political leaders are arguing that the superbank should be de
Read moreBroker snap: M&S too focused on promotions
15th May 2009 10:35
With Marks & Spencer still undecided on the identity of its new chief executive officer, Investec has weighed in with some hard hitting advice for the new boss, whoever it may be. The broker has set out its own five-point plan to revive the fortunes of the High Street giant which, it claims, is too
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