London open: Stocks rise ahead of BoE inflation report
13th May 2015 08:20
London stocks rebounded slightly on Wednesday after a steep decline the previous session, as investors geared up for the Bank of England's Quarterly Inflation Report. The FTSE 100 was trading 0.53% higher at 6,970.37 early on, with results from blue chips Mondi, Barratt Developments and SABMiller im
Read moreAdmiral's chief executive steps down
13th May 2015 07:05
Admiral Group's chief executive Henry Engelhardt is stepping down in a year's time, the motor insurance company announced on Wednesday. Engelhardt, who has been in the role since the group's creation in June 1991, will be replaced by well-regarded co-founder and chief operating officer David Stevens
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Easyjet nose dives on strikes and currency headwinds, financials lower
12th May 2015 13:10
Budget airline Easyjet led fallers despite meeting guidance and swinging to a small profit in the first half, warning it is likely to face tougher conditions in the latter part of the year. The company saw its shares sink after saying that exchange-rate movements and air traffic control strikes in F
Read moreLondon close: Markets shrug off weak data as Lloyds and miners surge
1st May 2015 16:37
Strong gains from mining stocks and an impressive first-quarter performance from UK lender Lloyds helped UK markets to rise on Friday, as investors shrugged off mostly worse-than-expected economic data. "With Europe mostly out of action for May Day, it was a quiet day in London, but at least the tra
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Lloyds surges on strong first quarter profits, property stock lower
1st May 2015 13:10
Lloyds Banking Group topped the risers after delivering a bigger-than-forecast 21% jump in underlying profits in the first quarter, as impairment charges more than halved. The UK lender also lifted its net interest margin guidance for the full year and improved its capital position. Stimulus hopes w
Read moreFriday broker round-up
27th Mar 2015 16:29
Aviva: Jefferies reiterates buy and ups target to 630p from 608p. RBS: UBS keeps at neutral and trims target to 375p from 386p. ITV: Exane reiterates add and lifts target to 288p from 267p. Wolseley: Exane reiterates underperform and lowers target to 2,660p from 2,730p. Hunting: JP Morgan Cazenov
Read moreLondon close: FTSE jumps to new record high on ECB stimulus
5th Mar 2015 16:24
Details of the European Central Bank's (ECB) quantitative easing package helped the FTSE 100 to another record close on Thursday, with financial stocks making solid gains by the end of the session. The Footise finished the day 41.9 points higher (+0.61%) at 6,961.14, surpassing a previous closing re
Read moreLondon midday: Aviva and Friends Life lead stocks higher ahead of ECB
5th Mar 2015 11:37
UK stocks gains on Thursday with decent gains by insurers Aviva and Friends Life offsetting weakness in the mining sector, as investors took an optimistic approach ahead of a much-anticipated central bank decision in Europe. The European Central Bank (ECB) is widely expected to keep policy unchanged
Read moreAdmiral Group full-year profits fall for first time since IPO in 2004
5th Mar 2015 09:08
Insurance company Admiral posted the first decline in profits since going public 11 years ago due to investments in the US during a year of consolidation. As a result, turnover was down 3% to £1.97bn and profit before tax excluding minority interest fell 4% £357m. The group said its business in the
Read moreSector movers: RSA, Jardine Lloyd Thompson and Direct Line drag non-life insurers lower
3rd Mar 2015 15:28
Non-life insurers were out of favour on Tuesday as a broker downgrade at RSA and a cool reaction to results from Jardine Lloyd Thompson and Direct Line weighed on sentiment. General insurer RSA was trading 2.7% lower after analysts at Bernstein lowered their rating on the stock from 'outperform' to
Read moreLondon close: Chinese data offsets IMF downgrade
20th Jan 2015 17:23
Stocks ended the session with modest gains on the heels of better-than-expected growth figures in China. The FTSE 100 gained 34.57 points to finish the day at 6,629. China's gross domestic product expanded at a 7.4% clip in 2014, markets seemed to draw comfort from the fact that the rate of expansi
Read moreSector movers: Glencore and Anglo American rise, Admiral in reverse
20th Jan 2015 16:21
A spate of stronger-than-expected economic reports out of China overnight triggered a small rebound in commodity stocks such as Glencore and Anglo American following recent heavy losses. At 7.3%, the rate of growth in Chinese Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the last three months of last year was un
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Chinese data boosts commodities and retail, Unilever sinks on dissapointing growth
20th Jan 2015 13:57
Fast-moving consumer goods giant Unilever was among the fallers after revealing slower-than-expected growth in 2014. Underlying sales were up 2.9%, faster than the markets they operate in but lower than analyst forecasts, with volumes higher by 1% and prices advancing by 1.9%. The company's core
Read moreSunday share tips: Mitie, UK Mail, Vodafone
18th Jan 2015 18:44
Mitie's shares have fallen but not as fast as those of outsourcing rivals such as Serco and Balfour Beatty, Danny Fortson pointed out in the Sunday Times. Matthew Earl, a former City analyst who writes a blog, criticised Mitie for buying companies to compensate for its own slow progress and for the
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Supermarket stocks pull back after strong surge
9th Jan 2015 13:47
Supermarket stocks were under pressure on Friday, with Tesco in particular pulling back after a 15% surge the previous session, following the announcement of its turnaround plan and resilient Christmas sales. Dampening Tesco's shares was the news that ratings agency Moody's had cut the UK grocer'
Read more