London pre-open: Early gains expected
3rd Aug 2009 07:38
Footsie is expected to post moderate gains in early dealings as Barclays kicks off a round of banking results Barclays delivered profits of £3bn for the first half, an increase of 8% against the same period last year, despite £4.6bn of gross losses on credit market exposures and £3.3bn of other imp
Read moreAstraZeneca diabetes drug gets US approval
3rd Aug 2009 07:16
AstraZeneca has received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration for the use of its ONGLYZA to treat type 2 diabetes in adults. The treatment, which has been developed in collaboration with the biopharmaceutical company Bristol-Myers Squibb, is used to improve blood sugar control levels
Read moreMonday newspaper round-up: Banks, Lord Myners, Virgin Media
3rd Aug 2009 06:17
Wall Street banks are reaping outsized profits by trading with the Federal Reserve, raising questions about whether the central bank is driving hard enough bargains in its dealings with private sector counterparties, officials and industry executives say, reports the FT. The Fed has emerged as one
Read moreSunday newspaper round-up: UK banks, National Express, William Hill
2nd Aug 2009 10:43
Treasury minister Lord Myners' radical plans for changes to financial regulation are "dangerous" and could result in a further loss of confidence in the market, according to the Association of British Insurers (ABI), the Sunday Telegraph reports. Lord Myners' idea for a two-tier shareholder registe
Read moreSector movers: Travel stocks move up
31st Jul 2009 13:27
Rank is leading the travel and leisure sector higher. The casino and bingo hall operator said underlying pre-tax profits rose to £24.7m in the six months ended 30 June compared with £17.6m last time. Analysts expected a profit of around £20m. Revenue came to £266m from £257m previously. Net debt re
Read moreLondon close: Blue chips surge continues
30th Jul 2009 16:42
Corporate newsflow and resurgent miners sent Footsie to within a whisker of its highest close this year. Investors piled into blue chips after a string of household names reported earnings this morning. Triple-digit gains for the Dow added to the upward momentum in the afternoon. Telecoms giant
Read moreLondon afternoon: Miners push Footsie higher
30th Jul 2009 14:48
Corporate news-flow and resurgent miners are driving Footsie higher today, with the benchmark index adding to its gains over the lunch-time session. Telecoms giant BT racked up a double-digit percentage gain in the morning after quarterly figures that were not as bad as feared. EBITDA (earnings b
Read moreAstra ups forecasts as generics withdraw
30th Jul 2009 11:05
The withdrawal of two generic competitors to heart drug Toprol XL helped AstraZeneca boost second quarter sales and raise full-year earnings targets. Anglo-Swedish firm Astra posted a 9% increase in sales at constant exchange rates (CER) to $7.96bn. Pre-tax profit for the three months to 30 June ro
Read moreSector movers: Astra lifts drug stocks after broker boost
8th Jul 2009 13:44
Pharmaceutical stocks are higher after the broker Panmure Gordon said AstraZeneca was set to benefit from US rivals that produce generic alternatives to its cancer drug Casodex being too slow off the mark. AstraZeneca's slight rise is not as impressive as that of stem cell therapy developer ReNeuro
Read moreBroker tips: Astra, Tullow, Miners
8th Jul 2009 12:02
Producers of generic alternatives to AstraZeneca's prostate cancer drug Casodex have been slow off the mark and this has created an unexpected windfall for the UK drugs giant. US drugs firms Mylan and Caraco received approval from the US Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) yesterday to start shippi
Read moreBroker snap: Astra to profit from rivals' tardiness
8th Jul 2009 12:01
Producers of generic alternatives to AstraZeneca's prostate cancer drug Casodex have been slow off the mark, and this has created an unexpected windfall for the UK drugs giant, Panmure Gordon reckons. US drugs firms Mylan and Caraco received approval from the US Food and Drugs Administration (FDA)
Read moreThursday tips round-up: AstraZeneca, Morgan Sindall, Afren
2nd Jul 2009 06:14
Yesterday's failed blockbuster drug can be tomorrow's niche therapy. That would appear to be the prognosis from AstraZeneca, which yesterday won European marketing approval for Iressa, its once-a-day lung cancer pill. Longer-term challenges remain: notably the tide of patent expiries, such as the 2
Read moreLondon close: Footsie adds 2%
1st Jul 2009 16:34
Miners were rampant Wednesday on stronger commodity prices, leaving the sector heavyweights dominating the blue chip index. There was healthy demand for gold on the metal markets, while copper also improved. The red metal headed higher following strong Chinese manufacturing data, while decreasing s
Read moreLondon afternoon: Resource stocks lead the way
1st Jul 2009 14:29
Resource stocks lead the market higher after the second half of the year got off to a good start following better than expected factory output data. The CIPS/Markit manufacturing purchasing managers' index rose to 47 in June from 45.4 the month before and a gloomy 34.9 in February. Most of the top
Read moreLondon midday: Marks sparks rally
1st Jul 2009 12:06
A well received set of results from Marks & Sparks and the strength of miners drives London higher today. Marks and Spencer's like-for-like sales fell across its major divisions in the first quarter, though total group sales were up. In the 13-weeks to June, UK like for like sales fell 1.4%, Genera
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