London open: Bright start for blue chips
26th Jan 2011 08:52
London has made good ground this morning after a late rally on Wall Street sparked by a stronger than expected US consumer confidence report. BG Group is the best performer after yet another discovery in the Santos Basin offshore Brazil. The latest strike is at Carioca North-East, located in a wate
Read moreAG Barr sales still fizzing
26th Jan 2011 07:17
Final quarter sales at soft drinks group AG Barr, best known for its Irn Bru and Tizer brands, is expected to be around 5% ahead of the previous year after a strong performance from its core brands. Full year like for like growth is expected to be around 10%, the group said in Wednesday's trading u
Read moreLand Securities non-exec starts building stake
14th Dec 2010 16:11
Simon Palley, a non-executive director at Land Securities, has taken his first tranche of shares in the shopping centre and office developer. He took 16,250 shares at 664.8p each, paying nearly £110,000. Palley joined the board of Land Securities, whose portfolio includes the Lakeside Retail Park
Read moreLondon close: Footsie slips back on sluggish day
8th Dec 2010 16:56
Shares struggled to snap out of their earlier sluggishness all day, closing just a few points in the red. Bid-related activity was the main source of excitement. Medical devices group Smith & Nephew was swept more than 9% higher by talk of a possible acquisition. US private equity firms are though
Read moreLondon afternoon: Footsie loses grip
8th Dec 2010 15:19
The 5,800 level is under pressure as a weak start on Wall Street begins to drag London back into negative territory. Insurers Prudential, Aviva and Resolution are doing their best to keep the market's head above water, but losses in the mining sector - Rio Tinto, Randgold and Anglo American have fa
Read moreLondon midday: Retail stocks take centre stage
8th Dec 2010 12:08
Footsie is in sluggish mode today although there is some excitement among retail-related stocks. Figures from the British Retail Council show shop price inflation fell for the first time in five months in November as nervous retailers slashed prices to make sure shoppers splash out in the run-up to
Read moreLondon open: Blue chips head lower
8th Dec 2010 08:57
London has opened lower as a bullish mood in the US following a two-year extension to tax cuts faded by the close last night. Smith & Nephew is the best performer by some distance, while Royal Dutch Shell is also higher after an upgrade to equal-weight from underweight from Morgan Stanley. The dea
Read moreLondon pre-open: Early retreat predicted
8th Dec 2010 07:40
A late sell-off on Wall Street is set to take London back below 5,800. Futures prices currently indicate a 40-point drop for the FTSE 100. The bullish mood in the US following a two-year extension to tax cuts faded by the close. Contractor and support services specialist Carillion expects good gro
Read moreAG Barr confident for FY
8th Dec 2010 07:13
Scottish soft drinks maker AG Barr said quarterly revenue increased 6.4% from the year before and it remains confident of achieving full year targets. "Current trading remains in line with our expectations despite a very competitive environment," the drinks maker, best known for its Irn Bru and Tiz
Read moreFTSE 250 movers: Britvic goes flat again
3rd Dec 2010 16:23
Soft drinks group Britvic, which yesterday saw its shares fall after its full year numbers, is lacking fizz again. Sector peer AG Barr, the company behind IRN-BRU, is also in the red. Barratt, Taylor Wimpey and Redrow move ahead after their fellow housebuilder Berkeley Group said it thinks it ca
Read moreBG boss raises more than £1m
12th Nov 2010 16:49
BG Group chief executive Frank Chapman has raised more than £1m by selling shares in the oil and gas explorer and producer. Chapman sold 85,000 shares at £12.80 each, which leaves him with 1.91m shares in BG, which was spun out of British Gas in 1997. Chapman has been chief executive for 10 year
Read moreORA non-exec adds to stake
19th Oct 2010 16:52
An ORA Capital Partners non-exec has invested more than £15,000 in the company. James Ede-Golightly bought 19,176 shares for his SIPP at 80p each. This takes his stake in AIM-quoted ORA to 199,176 shares. Cambridge graduate Ede-Golightly is a former analyst with Merrill Lynch and Commerzbank.
Read moreLondon close: Footsie rebounds as Wall Street recovers
28th Sep 2010 16:53
An upturn in the US buoyed sentiment on this side of the Atlantic too, helping Footsie to finish in the blue after a choppy day. The day started badly for London's leading share index but it. gradually recovered throughout the morning only to fall back after a poor start on Wall Street then rebound
Read moreLondon afternoon: Footsie becalmed
28th Sep 2010 14:12
Expectations of a firm start on Wall Street have lured buyers back into the market in London and the blue-chip index ended the lunch time session barely changed on the day. Hedge fund manager Man has been usurped as worst performing FTSE 100 stock by weapons systems developer BAE Systems. Defence f
Read moreLondon midday: Man leads London lower
28th Sep 2010 12:22
Confirmation that the UK economy grew 1.2% in the second quarter, its fastest pace in nine years, has done little to quell concerns about future economic growth, both here and abroad, and that prompted a subdued mood in London in the morning session. Hedge fund manager Man is the weakest of the bl
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