London midday: Decent morning for Footsie
18th May 2010 12:10
Footsie has made decent progress this morning helped by gains for utilities and the non-bank and insurance bits of the finance sector. Man Group is the best performer on reflection of yesterday's deal to buy GLG for $1.6bn. Inter-dealer broker ICAP is also in demand, while mezzanine finance lende
Read moreLondon open: Bright start for Footsie
18th May 2010 09:02
Footsie has made good progress in early dealing with miners rallying and some decent results this morning. Mobile giant Vodafone expects to see revenues in its core business grow again in the current year after recent declines with a promise of dividend growth of at least 7% for the next three year
Read moreLondon pre-open: Shares to move higher
18th May 2010 07:40
Footsie is expected to move ahead following an improvement on Wall Street following the close here yesterday Mobile giant Vodafone expects to see revenues in its core business grow again in the current year after recent declines with a promise of dividend growth of at least 7% for the next three ye
Read moreAstraZeneca grants Teva generic Crohn's drug license
18th May 2010 07:34
AstraZeneca has signed a deal with Teva Pharmaceuticals USA to settle patent litigation regarding Teva's proposed generic version of Astra's Entocort EC (budesonide) capsules used to treat Crohn's disease. The Anglo-Swedish drug giant has granted Teva a license to enter the US market with its gener
Read moreLondon close: Miners lead Footsie slide
4th May 2010 16:37
Footsie ended the day deep in the red after a poor start on Wall Street added to already heavy losses in London. The mining sector bore the brunt of the selling. BHP Billiton and Xstrata were initially among the worst fallers after they reacted angrily to the Australian government's plans to introd
Read moreLondon afternoon: Inmarsat bid spec a bright spot
4th May 2010 14:07
Footsie carried on falling over the lunch time session with sentiment taking a further knock from expectations of a lower start on Wall Street. BP is down heavily as the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico shows no sign of abating. It has denied responsibility for the rig explosion that caused the prob
Read moreFDA green lights Astra's arthritis pill
4th May 2010 07:50
Anglo-Swedish drugs giant AstraZeneca said the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved VIMOVO, the pain relief pill for arthritis sufferers. VIMOVO, which was co-developed by Pozen and Astra, is a fixed-dose combination of delayed-release enteric-coated naproxen, a pain-relieving non-ste
Read moreFriday tips round-up: BG, AstraZeneca, William Hill
30th Apr 2010 06:39
BG's impressive portfolio - particularly in the giant sub-salt fields off Brazil and in Australia's coal-seam gas sector - should give investors pause for thought, regardless of the short-term dynamic. Australian LNG trains are well-placed for the booming Asian market. And Brazil's Santos Basin ha
Read moreLondon afternoon: BP left behind
29th Apr 2010 15:07
Footsie is trading close to its high for the day despite heavily weighted index constituent BP coming under the cosh after it said the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico is much worse than initially thought. BP's chief operating officer Doug Suttles has admitted that the amount of oil leaking from the
Read moreLondon midday: London on a Sky high
29th Apr 2010 12:14
Traders are too busy digesting a full schedule of corporate announcements to worry about sovereign debt issues, as the Footsie makes another attempt at clawing back some of the heavy losses sustained on Monday. Pay TV and Internet service provider British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB) is the top perform
Read moreAstraZeneca ups guidance as profits soar
29th Apr 2010 11:01
AstraZeneca has upped its profit target for the full year after strong growth from key drugs and emerging markets helped the drug giant post a sharp rise in earnings in the first quarter. Pre-tax profits climbed to $3.5bn from $3bn over the same quarter the previous year on the back of revenues tha
Read moreThursday preview: Astra, BG, Unilever
28th Apr 2010 18:27
Barring another sovereign debt ratings downgrade from Standard & Poor's on Thursday the headlines are likely to be hogged by results from AstraZeneca, BG Group, British Sky Broadcasting, Shire, Unilever and Whitbread. First quarter results from Anglo-Swedish drugs giant Astra will be out at 11:00
Read moreAstraZeneca pays $520m Seroquel fine
28th Apr 2010 07:53
AstraZeneca has agreed to pay a $520m fine to settle allegations that it illegally marketed its schizophrenia drug Seroquel for unapproved uses. The drug giant denies the charges, but will pay the penalty, agreed in principle last October and taken as a reserve in 2009. It has also entered into a
Read moreLondon close: Footsie slumps on eventful day
27th Apr 2010 16:31
Footsie was deep in the red at trading's close after credit rating downgrades for Greece and Portugal added to already substantial losses, with miners among the stocks posting heavy falls. With oil and metals prices in retreat as fears grow about potential delays in financial aid reaching Greece re
Read moreLondon afternoon: Reckitt fails to cut the mustard
27th Apr 2010 14:35
Footsie drifted lower over the lunch time session, not helped by disappointing results from household goods maker Reckitt Benckiser. Shares in Reckitt sank to the bottom of the FTSE 100 despite the French's mustard maker posting a rise in earnings and sales for the first quarter. The firm said oper
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