London midday: Stocks retreat, Unilever drops after downgrade
11th Jan 2012 11:49
After trading within a narrow 20-point range for most of the morning, it seems if the Footsie has found its direction, dropping around 40 points by midday, with Eurozone concerns once again in the spotlight. Euro-area gross domestic product growth slowed to 0.1% quarter-on-quarter in the third quar
Read moreLondon close: Footsie closes up 1.5% on mining surge
10th Jan 2012 16:53
The Footsie closed near its highest levels of the day at 5,697, breaking through the 5,700 mark briefly in late afternoon trade. Upbeat economic data from China along with news that Fitch doesn't intend to downgrade France this year lifted the mood across Europe today with benchmark indices across t
Read moreFTSE 100 Movers: Miners lead index higher
10th Jan 2012 14:46
Miners were leading the rise on Tuesday, with Vedanta Resources, Kazakhmys and Antofagasta gaining ground after some positive economic data from China boosted sentiment. China's trade balance widened from $145.3bn to $165.2bn in December and while import growth on the whole had slowed, imports for c
Read moreLondon midday: Resource stocks lift Footsie, Gulf Keystone jumps
10th Jan 2012 12:00
Resource stocks performed well in morning trade, lifting the FTSE 100 over 1.1% higher. Miners were gaining ground after some positive economic data from China boosted sentiment, while Cairn Energy was on the up after detailing its $3.5bn cash return to shareholders. A big mover was Gulf Keystone,
Read moreLondon close: Footsie drops after Merkozy meeting
9th Jan 2012 16:59
The FTSE 100 finished close to its lowest levels of the day with resource, pharmaceuticals and banking stocks providing a drag in the afternoon session. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy gave a press conference earlier today in which they outlined details of their
Read moreLondon close: Footsie zeros in on 5700
3rd Jan 2012 17:06
After a moderately buoyant morning session, UK shares raced ahead in the afternoon, encouraged by a very strong showing on Wall Street. The mineral extractors blazed the trail after moderately encouraging manufacturing data from China. China's official purchasing managers' index (PMI) rose to 50.3
Read moreFTSE 100 Movers: Miners send Footsie flying
3rd Jan 2012 14:49
Miners were charging higher with Kazakhmys leading the way, followed closely by BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto. The rise came on the back of moderately encouraging manufacturing data from China. China's official purchasing managers' index (PMI) rose to 50.3 in December from 49 in November; a value above
Read moreMonday newspaper round-up: Barclays, BRC, Sensex
2nd Jan 2012 06:14
The European Banking Authority has estimated that Barclays will have €4bn (£3.3bn) of "deferred tax assets" this year, compared with €5bn at Royal Bank of Scotland, and €7.3bn at Lloyds Banking Group. Deferred tax assets are highly prized by companies because they can be set against tax claims to re
Read moreLondon close: In the blue as investors say adieu to 2011
30th Dec 2011 12:46
London's top shares clawed back into positive territory as investors bid farewell to a turbulent 2011. Financials recovered from earlier weakness. Barclays was up 0.89%, Royal Bank of Scotland added 0.35% and Lloyds Banking Group recovered 1.61% in subdued pre New Year trading. Oil giants BP and
Read moreLondon midday: Footsie retreats ahead of early close
30th Dec 2011 11:38
London's top shares remained in the red in midday trading, with trading light on the ground ahead of Friday's earlier than usual lunchtime close. Oil giants BP and Royal Dutch Shell each fell 0.5% as crude oil prices eased. However BG Group broke the downward trend, rising 0.51% after it said one
Read moreLondon open: Subdued half day trading
30th Dec 2011 09:44
London's leading shares fell in light trading with financial and commodity plays under pressure in the year's final half-day trading session. Banks such as Barclays fell 0.9%, Royal Bank of Scotland lost 0.9% and Lloyds Banking Group dropped 0.8% in subdued pre New Year trading. Oil giants BP an
Read moreFTSE 100 Movers: GDP data boosts Lloyds into top spot
22nd Dec 2011 13:36
Better-than-expected GDP data helped to boost financials into the top ten. Lloyds led the way, followed closely by RBS and Old Mutual as stocks rallied on news that the UK gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 0.6% in the third quarter in volume terms versus the previous three months, according to th
Read moreBarclays director keeps the faith
21st Dec 2011 16:29
Sir Michael Rake, the Senior Independent Director of Barclays, has upped his stake in the firm less than a week after the global bank was downgraded by Fitch Ratings. Rake, who is currently also Chairman of telecommunications firm BT Group and Chairman of Easyjet, bought up 5,914 ordinary shares a
Read moreFTSE 100 Movers: Lloyds leads banks higher
21st Dec 2011 12:58
Banks, in particular Lloyds, were on the rise today, despite credit ratings agency Moody's saying Britain's cherished triple-AAA credit rating could be under threat if the Eurozone crisis worsens. Moody's Investors Service said last night: "Any additional weakening in the macro-economic outlook or
Read moreLondon midday: Footsie laid low by Unicredit, rumours of French downgrade?
21st Dec 2011 11:39
The banks were providing a lift at midday, but the Footsie was registering only slight gains with only a few days before Christmas. Hopes of a 'Santa rally' seem to have been dampened towards midday by the suspension from trading of shares of Unicredit 'limit-down'. They have since resumed trading
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