London midday: Stocks fall as GDP data quashes stimulus hopes
25th Apr 2013 11:46
Better-than-expected growth figures from the UK underwhelmed stock markets on Thursday morning, tempering hopes that the Bank of England (BoE) would ease policy to boost the economy. Stocks have risen strongly over the past few days after a number of disappointing economic figures from the Eurozone
Read moreBroker tips: Vodafone, AstraZeneca, Admiral
25th Apr 2013 10:51
A potential offer by Verizon (VZ) for Vodafone's stake in their US wireless joint venture would have to increase substantially to please the British telecom group's shareholders, according to Jefferies. Jefferies said: "The glaring issue raised by last night's [Reuters] article is of course price.
Read moreBroker snap: Panmure says AstraZeneca up with events after strong run
25th Apr 2013 09:54
First-quarter results from AstraZeneca were broadly in line with forecasts with the stock is up with events after a good run of late, according to Panmure Gordon. Core earnings per share came in at 141 cents in the first three months of the year, ahead of the consensus forecast of 135 cents and in
Read moreLondon open: Stocks rise ahead of UK GDP
25th Apr 2013 08:28
Markets opened strongly on Thursday morning as strength in the mining sector lifted the FTSE 100 higher ahead of the release of UK growth data. British gross domestic product (GDP) is widely expected to have expanded by 0.1% in the first quarter, according to consensus estimates, rebounding after a
Read moreLoss of exclusivity on several brands hurts AstraZeneca in Q1
25th Apr 2013 07:11
Revenue contracted 12 per cent to 6.39bn dollar in the first quarter at FTSE 100-listed pharmaceuticals group AstraZeneca after losses of exclusivity for Seroquel IR and Atacand in many markets, and for Crestor in Canada. The group reported that growth for Symbicort, Brilinta, Iressa and the inclus
Read moreThursday preview: AstraZeneca and Unilever report
24th Apr 2013 14:48
AstraZeneca and Unilever will take centre stage Thursday when the FTSE 100 companies reveal their first quarter results. Drug giant AstraZeneca is expected to report an earnings per share of $1.41, compared to the group's consensus of $1.37, according to Panmure Research. "The stock has significa
Read moreMonday broker round-up UPDATE
22nd Apr 2013 07:20
Admiral Group: Deutsche Bank takes target price from 1140p to 1300p retaining a hold recommendation. African Barrick Gold: Deutsche Bank ups target price from 173p to 180p staying with its hold recommendation. Albemarle & Bond: Canaccord Genuity reduces target price from 280p to 146p and downgrade
Read moreWednesday broker round-up UPDATE
10th Apr 2013 08:57
African Barrick Gold: Westhouse Securities upgrades from sell to neutral with a target price of 195p. Deutsche Bank reduces target price from 340p to 230p keeping its hold rating. African Minerals: Deutsche Bank reduces target price from 620p to 594p and leaves its buy recommendation unaltered. An
Read moreLondon close: Markets hammered by fears over US labour market
5th Apr 2013 17:03
A lacklustre US employment report resulted in a market sell-off across global indices on Friday afternoon as the American economy added much fewer jobs than expected in March. Market Analyst Craig Erlam from Alpari said that the optimism surrounding the US recovery "has been shattered in the space
Read moreLondon midday: Stocks tank as eyes turn to US jobs data
5th Apr 2013 11:28
Stocks across Europe were under heavy selling pressure on Friday morning as traders refrained from building positions ahead of the all-important employment report due out Stateside this afternoon. "We're seeing a lot of caution in the markets on Friday, ahead of what is expected to be a disappointi
Read moreLondon open: Markets nervous ahead of US jobs data
5th Apr 2013 08:27
Markets declined on Friday morning, despite relative strength in the mining sector, as traders refrained from building positions ahead of the key risk event of the day - the US employment report. The market reaction to the non-farm payrolls figure will be interesting to see, given the somewhat disa
Read moreLondon pre-open: Markets await US employment data
5th Apr 2013 07:35
City sources predict the FTSE 100 will open up three points from yesterday's close of 6,344, as investors await employment data from the US. The closely-watched US employment report for March will be released today, and consensus estimates are for a 199,000 increase in non-farm payrolls in March,
Read moreAstraZeneca unveils positive results for arthritis treatment study
5th Apr 2013 07:14
Biopharmaceutical business AstraZeneca has unveiled positive results from a study of fostamatinib, an oral drug being developed for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. In the FTSE 100 company's phase III study, designed to assess the efficacy and safety of fostamatinib, the drug achieved a "sta
Read moreThursday tips round-up: Barclays, Chemring, AstraZeneca
4th Apr 2013 07:20
Yesterday's Salz report into what went wrong at Barclays makes for interesting reading but adds little to the promises which have already been made. Nevertheless, it does shine a light on some problems, such as that of high pay for average performers. In any case, the review will help hold the new g
Read moreBroker tips: AstraZeneca, IMI, WPP
2nd Apr 2013 12:16
JPMorgan Cazenove has upgraded its rating for drugmaker AstraZeneca from 'underweight' to 'neutral' and lifted its price target for the stock from 2,750p to 3,400p, causing shares to edged higher on Tuesday. "We continue to model AZN's earnings trough in 2017, however, as the pipeline matures and b
Read more