Friday newspaper round-up: UKip, IPOs, Royal Mail
23rd May 2014 06:59
Labour admitted Ukip had caused "mayhem" last night as early results in council elections pointed to a big swing towards Nigel Farage's party in its heartlands. The Eurosceptics made huge gains across the country, halting Labour's hoped for gains and taking seats off the Conservatives. Ed Miliband's
Read moreLondon close: Flat finish after turbulent day, focus on Chinese PMI, UK GDP
22nd May 2014 16:59
- FTSE closes 0.48 points lower at 6,820.56 - SABMiller leads risers, Royal Mail at bottom of pile - Household spending drives rise in GDP techMARK 2,744.10 +0.32% FTSE 100 6,820.56 -0.01% FTSE 250 15,675.09 +0.46% Blue chips ended today's session flat, tipping marginally into negative territory i
Read moreSector movers: Tech and mining stocks rally
22nd May 2014 15:34
Technology stocks edged higher as Imagination Technologies agreed two deals to strengthen its MIPS architecture into a more serious competitor for ARM. The FTSE 250 company announced a collaboration with US technology giant Oracle to enhance Java computer programming language for embedded applicati
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: SABMiller bubbles higher on annual results
22nd May 2014 15:33
A taste for lager among drinkers in emerging markets helped brewing group SABMiller to add fizz to annual adjusted profits, although volumes declined in Europe and North America. SABMiller, whose brands include Peroni, Pilsner Urquell and Grolsch, said strong demand in Latin America, Africa and Chin
Read moreBlackrock ratchets up the pressure on AstraZeneca
22nd May 2014 14:25
On Thursday AstraZeneca's largest shareholder ratcheted up the pressure on its board to engage with Pfizer over a possible sale. US private equity group Blacrock, the world´s largest, and which holds an 8% stake in the pharmaceuticals group, is understood to support the Anglo-Swedish outfit´s decis
Read moreLondon close: FTSE lifted by gains in US, eyes on BoE, retail sales
21st May 2014 16:59
- FTSE closes up 19.04 points at 6,821.04 - Retail figures, BoE in focus - April mortgage lending up by more than a third techMARK 2,735.35 +1.07% FTSE 100 6,821.04 +0.28% FTSE 250 15,603.20 +1.06% A rise in stocks on the other side of the Pond helped drive blue chips into positive territory by to
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Petrofac rises on Barclays upgrade
21st May 2014 15:28
Petrofac climbed after Barclays raised its recommendation for the UK's largest oil and gas engineer. An increase in oil prices also boosted the sector with both Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude futures higher. Burberry's annual revenue rose 17% to £2.3bn, boosted by strong retail sales. The
Read moreLondon midday: Minutes show first signs of split in MPC
21st May 2014 12:15
- AstraZeneca leads gains - UK retail sales surge by 1.3 per cent on the month - Minutes show differences of opinion amongst MPC techMARK 2,718.19 +0.43% FTSE 100 6,794.51 -0.11% FTSE 250 15,526.03 +0.56% Change is in the air at the Bank of England; indeed, perhaps not massive change, but change n
Read moreWednesday broker round-up UPDATE
21st May 2014 08:36
African Minerals: Citi reduces target price from 260p to 190p, while leaving its buy recommendation unchanged. Alliance Pharma: Numis lowers target price from 39p to 37p and maintains an add rating. APR Energy: JP Morgan shifts target price from 1082p to 1089p keeping its overweight rating. Astra
Read moreWednesday newspaper round-up: Bank of England, Lloyds, AstraZeneca
21st May 2014 06:38
Raising interest rates might be the only effective tool the Bank of England has to cool the housing market, its deputy governor has conceded. Charlie Bean, who retires at the end of June, said that while it was sensible for the Bank to use macro-prudential tools to control rapid price rises and mana
Read moreAstraZeneca blames Pfizer for bringing prospects of a deal to a close - UPDATE
20th May 2014 20:30
Drugs giant AstraZeneca on Tuesday evening issued a statement highlighting that Pfizer's final offer had been made without prior discussion with it and despite having previously indicated to the US firm the price and other bases on which it would have been prepared to recommend an offer to its board
Read moreBroker tips: Greencore, AstraZeneca, Tullow Oil
20th May 2014 11:57
Greencore, the manufacturer of convenience foods, delivered a 'good' first half result, with a strong 26 per cent increase in like-for-like sales at its Convenience Foods unit in the US, and there is increasing visibility on growth next year, Investec analyst Nicola Millard told analysts in a resear
Read moreCiti says AstraZeneca is a buy with a 49 pounds price target
20th May 2014 10:28
Citigroup has urged investors to buy takeover target AstraZeneca after it turned down rival Pfizer's latest bid. Citi has added AstraZeneca to its Citi Focus List Europe, saying it is worth £49 a share following its rejection of Pfizer's "final" £55 per share offer. AstraZeneca's shares endured a
Read moreTuesday newspaper round-up: Households, Prices, AstraZeneca
20th May 2014 07:09
British households are willing to splash out a little bit extra on luxuries as confidence in people's finances and the state of the economy continues to rise. Consumer confidence is at its highest level since Lloyds started charting it in its Spending Power Report in November 2010. Confidence in Apr
Read moreLondon close: AstraZeneca leads stocks lower
19th May 2014 16:26
- FTSE closes down 11.26 points at 6,844.55 - AstraZeneca leads fallers after bid rejection - Chinese data disappoints techMARK 2,719.46 -0.94% FTSE 100 6,844.55 -0.16% FTSE 250 15,379.44 -0.12% London's blue chips ended the session broadly lower, weighed by AstraZeneca and generally weaker sentim
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