London midday: FTSE 100 gives up gains
1st Mar 2011 12:07
The top share index is flat after giving up early gains, while company updates in the FTSE 250 have sparked big moves in both directions. Capita is the best performer in the FTSE 100 after the outsourcing group said it was in talks with Zurich about performing some administrative tasks for the ins
Read moreLondon open: Miners lift Footsie
1st Mar 2011 08:50
Overnight gains on Wall Street and an improvement in Asia this morning have propelled London higher first thing Tuesday. Copper miners Antofagasta and Kazakhmys are the best performers so far. CD and computer games retailer HMV has issued another profits warning and begun talks with its banks abou
Read moreLondon pre-open: Footsie to retake 6,000
1st Mar 2011 07:36
Overnight gains on Wall Street and an improvement in Asia this morning look set to propel London higher first thing Tuesday. News that billionaire investor Warren Buffett is on the lookout for major acquisitions helped push the Dow Jones up 95 points yesterday. The FTSE 100 is expected to react
Read moreBarclays shells out for Egg
1st Mar 2011 07:21
Banking giant Barclays is to buy the UK credit card assets of Egg, the online bank owned by Citigroup, for an undisclosed sum. The acquired business has around 1.15m credit card accounts with some £2.3bn of gross receivables. "The acquisition of Egg's UK credit card accounts has been priced at a
Read moreThursday newspaper round-up: Lloyds, RBS, JJB, $220-a-barrel oil
24th Feb 2011 06:27
Qatar, the natural gas-rich Middle Eastern state which owns stakes in Barclays and Sainsbury's, could invest in Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland, the banking groups part-nationalised at the height of the financial crisis. The Treasury owns about 83% of RBS and about 40% of Lloyds, with the stakes m
Read moreLondon close: Shares slump as Libya worries linger
23rd Feb 2011 16:52
More weakness in the US helped send shares in London sharply lower, with the Libyan crisis and the consequent higher oil price weighing on sentiment. Brent crude for April delivery surged to more than $109 per barrel shortly after 2pm, though it has dipped down below $109 again since then. The $3+
Read moreLondon afternoon: Oil lubricates slippery slope
23rd Feb 2011 14:22
An attempted rally in the morning was already fizzling out as the afternoon started, and prices continued to drift lower over the lunchtime trading session, as investors continue to fret about the higher oil price. Brent crude for April delivery surged to more than $109 per barrel shortly after 2pm
Read moreBarclays sees off $11bn Lehman lawsuit
23rd Feb 2011 11:34
A New York judge has thrown out an attempt to sue Barclays for $11bn (£6.8bn) over the way it bought Lehman Brothers at the height of the credit crunch. Lawyers overseeing the Lehman bankruptcy estate accused the British bank of taking advantage of the chaos sparked by the financial crisis to snap
Read moreLondon close: Shares fall as Libya crisis intensifies
21st Feb 2011 16:53
The top share index was nursing big losses at trading's close as worries over the turmoil in Libya sent the oil price soaring and continued high usage of the European Central Bank's marginal lending facility stoked nervousness over banks. Banks are granted the right to seek overnight loans from th
Read moreLondon afternoon: ECB emergency loans give banks jitters
21st Feb 2011 14:26
Concerns about rising oil prices should Libya descend into civil war are nagging away at investors, while continued high usage of the European Central Bank's marginal lending facility is making traders nervous about banks. Banks are granted the right to seek overnight loans from the European Centr
Read moreLondon midday: Banks hold back FTSE 100
21st Feb 2011 12:12
Shares are in the red as banking stocks fall back and the turmoil in the Arab world casts a shadow. Banks are the main drag, with RBS, Lloyds and Barclays nursing losses following gains last week. RBS and Lloyds are due to release results later this week. The oil price has topped $104 a barrel as
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Banks head lower
21st Feb 2011 11:58
RBS and Lloyds are lower ahead of their results later this week. On top of that, Lloyds has announced a voluntary agreement with the FSA about certain Halifax mortgage contracts. This relates to the wording of the mortgage contracts. Barclays is also lower. Invensys is higher because of press spec
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Banks move higher
17th Feb 2011 12:22
Banks head the risers. Positive comment from Nomura has boosted Lloyds. Even so, RBS, HSBC and Barclays are also higher. African Barrick Gold continues to rise after yesterday's figures. BAE Systems has fallen after warning that sales in 2011 will decline as cutbacks in government spending star
Read moreThursday newspaper round-up: FSA, Mervyn King, oil price
17th Feb 2011 06:29
Sweeping new powers to ban financial products and publish details of pending investigations of institutions suspected of misconduct will be handed to the three bodies replacing the Financial Services Authority, the Treasury will announce today. In a series of reforms that could prove controversial i
Read moreWednesday newspaper round-up: BHP Billiton, Mervyn King, Farepak...
16th Feb 2011 06:32
Booming commodity prices spurred BHP Billiton to announce last night that it will return $10bn to shareholders and invest $80bn in new mines over the next five years. Profits at the global mining group beat expectations to hit a record $10.5bn in the first half of 2010, a 72% rise on the same perio
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