London midday: Blue chips still struggling
29th Sep 2009 12:06
Miners and property stocks are keeping Footsie in the red despite the banking and insurance sectors going well. Swiss bank Credit Suisse has issued a bearish note on the property sector prompting the likes of British Land, Land Securities, SEGRO and Hammerson to shift into reverse. Credit Suisse's
Read moreLondon close: Footsie dips into the red
23rd Sep 2009 17:05
A late swoon saw London's blue-chip index give up the gains of the morning to close marginally lower on the day, as investors banked profits ahead of the Federal Reserve's decision this evening on US interest rates and its quantitative easing (QE) programme. The morning's gains had been achieved on
Read moreLondon afternoon: Footsie nears intra-day high
23rd Sep 2009 14:01
The market's climb regained momentum over the lunchtime session. Investors have been put in the mood to buy by the prospect of the Bank of England increasing its quantitative easing programme some time in the future. The minutes to the most recent meeting of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy co
Read moreLondon midday: Market rises despite cash calls
23rd Sep 2009 11:55
The market is off the top but still in positive territory, despite a flood of fund raising announcements this morning. Property group Liberty International shares have been hit by a placing today of up to 56.1m new shares, increasing its shares in issue by just under 10%. The fund raising comes l
Read moreSunday newspaper round-up: Rolls-Royce, G20, Lloyds
20th Sep 2009 10:52
Rolls-Royce is fighting a last-ditch battle to stop Barack Obama axing a military-engine contract that could see it share an estimated $50bn (£30.7bn) in sales over the next two decades. The aero-engine maker was last week lobbying in Washington to prevent funding being withdrawn for its engine for
Read moreLondon close: Footsie winning streak continues
18th Sep 2009 16:38
London's rising streak continued but it was a bit of a struggle with the absence of economic news and a flat start on Wall Street keeping activity at low levels. Banks provided what little excitement there was, with Lloyds Banking, RBS, HSBC and Barclays the most widely traded blue-chips, with the
Read moreJudge backs Aviva fund payout
18th Sep 2009 15:52
A High Court judge has scuppered an attempt to stop insurer Aviva paying £500m to policyholders in two of its with-profits funds. The decision to back the move means one million savers will get between £200 and £1,000 each, although a small group of policyholders had opposed the plan. They complai
Read moreLondon close: Stocks gain on economic cheer
15th Sep 2009 16:40
Footsie put further distance between itself and the 5,000 point mark as the global economic outlook brightened. The US recession is 'very likely' to have ended, Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said. Here, the UK Consumer Prices Index in August showed an annual increase of 1.6%, the lowest si
Read moreLondon afternoon: Weak retailers out of step
15th Sep 2009 14:18
Leading shares are consolidating the morning's gains, though retailers decline to join the party. Confusion and speculation surrounds the acquisition and fund raising intentions of general insurer RSA. Reports in today's FT suggest RSA indicated at a recent investors conference that it was looking
Read moreLondon midday: RSA's bid plans unclear
15th Sep 2009 12:11
After a quiet but tospy-turvy session the blue-chip index ended the morning in positive territory, despite the UK inflation picture not improving as much in August as expected. The UK Consumer Prices Index in August showed an annual increase of 1.6%, the lowest since level since February 2005 and do
Read moreTuesday newspaper round-up: UK banks, Obama, RSA
15th Sep 2009 06:16
Alistair Darling is planning legislation this autumn to force British banks to draw up "living wills" so that they can be dismantled more easily in any future financial crisis. The proposal to set out a timetable for banks to simplify their corporate structures and plan for dissolution will be incl
Read moreSunday newspaper round-up: Cadbury, Royal Bank of Scotland, Yell
13th Sep 2009 09:50
Roger Carr, the Cadbury chairman, delivered a stinging rebuke to Kraft Foods this weekend, insisting the American rival's plan to absorb the chocolate maker into its "low growth, conglomerate business" was an "unappealing" and "unattractive prospect". In a terse letter sent yesterday to Irene Rosen
Read moreLondon close: Footsie clings on to gains
8th Sep 2009 17:01
Leading London shares closed mixed, with strong gains on resource stocks counter-balanced by losses on life assurance stocks. Kazakhmys, Antofagasta, Rio Tinto, Xstrata and Vedanta Resources led the mining sector higher, as metal prices improved. Gold miners Fresnillo and Randgold Resources were
Read moreDivi trend hobbles Dogs of the Footsie
21st Aug 2009 16:38
Dividend payouts by British companies in the first half of the year were down by 9% on the corresponding period of 2008, creating a less than propitious environment for advocates of the 'Dogs of the Footsie', the mechanical investment strategy which focuses on high-yielding blue-chips. Figures fro
Read moreLondon close: Fed optimism bolsters Footsie gains
21st Aug 2009 16:31
Footsie finished with strong gains going into the weekend after US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said prospects for a return to global growth look good. 'After contracting sharply over the past year, economic activity appears to be levelling out, both in the United States and abroad, and th
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