London open: Footsie struggles early on
4th Mar 2010 08:30
A four-day winning streak could end Thursday after a poor start following last night's late sell-off on Wall Street, weaker miners and some disappointing company results. Engineering and project management firm Amec is worst of the blue chips as investors react badly to a 3% slip in revenues, or 12
Read moreLondon midday: Pru deal casts shadow
1st Mar 2010 12:01
Gains have been eroded steadily through the morning to leave the leading index up by a baker's dozen as Prudential slumps on rights issue fears and miners step back. Confirmation that Pru may pay $35bn (£23bn) for the Asian business of troubled US insurer AIG ate into London's early 60-point lead.
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Miners head lower
3rd Feb 2010 14:43
Footsie has been dragged down by the weak mining sector, which makes up five of the top 10 worst performers. Xstrata is the biggest faller in the mining sector. It has signed a new agreement with the unions at its Sudbury mine in Canada and plans to recommence copper mining at the Fraser Mine thi
Read moreLondon afternoon: Footsie falls as miners switch sides
3rd Feb 2010 14:32
Mining stocks headed south over the lunch time session, taking the blue-chip index with them. Antofagasta is the worst performer in the mining sector. The copper miner produced 442,500 tonnes of the red metal in 2009, ahead of its original forecast of 433,000 tonnes but lower than the 477,700 tonne
Read moreLondon midday: Merrills takes a shine to banks
3rd Feb 2010 12:08
Footsie ended the morning at an intra-day high, driven by a strong performance from financial stocks and miners. Standard Life is the top riser after it announced a 'significant increase' in flows and sales in the fourth quarter. Life and pensions net inflows more than tripled to £1.3bn from £0.4bn
Read moreAntofagasta misses 2009 copper target
3rd Feb 2010 10:46
Copper miner Antofagasta produced 442,500 tonnes of the red metal in 2009, missing its targets and seeing a fall from the previous year. The Chile-focused miner had lifted its target for 2009 to 447,000 in August from an earlier estimate of 433,000 tonnes. It produced 477,700 tonnes of copper the p
Read moreWednesday preview: Autonomy, miners
2nd Feb 2010 16:03
Data search software Autonomy has a reputation for putting out marketing messages thinly disguised as regulatory news items, most of which can be safely ignored, but the broking community will be tuning in to Wednesday's fourth quarter results announcement with interest to see whether the company wi
Read moreLondon close: US slide drags down Footsie
28th Jan 2010 16:45
London slumped near the close mirroring heavy falls in the US where technology stocks ran into heavy selling seemingly on disappointment with Apple's new iPad. AstraZeneca led the fallers after the Anglo-Swedish pharmaceuticals firm saw fourth quarter earnings rise 10% but warned that its predicted
Read moreLondon afternoon: Banks lead rally
28th Jan 2010 14:31
Blue chips put on a spurt over the lunch time session despite drugs giant Astra issuing disappointing fourth quarter figures. The Anglo-Swedish pharmaceuticals firm saw fourth quarter earnings rise 10% but warned that its predicted 2010 revenues would be hit by the loss of exclusive rights to sell
Read moreLondon midday: Footsie flat after mixed earnings news
28th Jan 2010 12:13
Blue chips are struggling to make headway in the face of mixed company news today. Pay TV and Internet service provider British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB) is one of the best performers after it said it had a strong second quarter with revenues coming in marginally ahead of expectations. Turnover in
Read moreLondon open: Footsie fights back
28th Jan 2010 08:20
London's top stocks have opened higher on Thursday, winning back some recent losses in early dealings. Pay TV and Internet service provider British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB) is one of the best performers after it said it had a strong second quarter with revenues coming in marginally ahead of expecta
Read moreLondon open: Footsie fights back
21st Jan 2010 08:17
United Utilities, Tullow Oil and a bunch of miners are leading London's blue chips higher in early dealings following yesterday's sharp losses. Water company United Utilities is to cut its dividend to 30p in fiscal 2010/11 from 34.3p as it seeks to conserve cash to meet the requirements of the indu
Read moreFTSE movers: Miners head lower
20th Jan 2010 17:27
It is unusual for one sector to make up all of the top ten fallers in the FTSE 100 but this has happened to day as mining companies are hit by concerns about the Chinese government's attempt to cool down its economy. The worry is that this will lead to lower demand for metals. Eurasian Natural Res
Read moreLondon close: Miners lead Footsie lower
20th Jan 2010 17:20
London's top stocks closed sharply lower with the mining sector weighing on the index on reports that China has told its banks to stop lending in an attempt to cool its runaway economy. Antofagasta, Xstrata, Lonmin, Eurasian Natural Resources and Vedanta were all nursing losses. Elsewhere in the
Read moreLondon afternoon: Footsie undermined by Chinese rumours
20th Jan 2010 14:24
The eight biggest fallers among FTSE 100 constituents are all miners, as the sector comes under the cosh on reports that China has told its banks to stop lending in an attempt to cool its runaway economy. Antofagasta, Xstrata, Lonmin, Eurasian Natural Resources and Vedanta were all nursing losses o
Read more