Monday newspaper round-up: Barclays, Tesco, Investec...
20th Sep 2010 06:41
Barclays is working on contingency plans to make radical changes in an attempt to head off more draconian government measures. The high street bank is looking at ways to ring-fence its deposits and is considering whether to put its investment banking arm Barclays Capital into a separate legal entit
Read moreSector movers: Balfour and Kier construct gains
17th Sep 2010 15:12
On a mostly dull day for stocks, Balfour Beatty is giving the construction and materials sector a lift after a consortium including the contractor was named the preferred bidder for a £250m road scheme in Ireland. The road runs Gort and Tuam in the west of the Republic. Elsewhere in the sector, ho
Read moreSunday newspaper round-up: Prudential, Betfair, Vodafone...
12th Sep 2010 10:26
A group of Chinese investors is in the early stages of considering a takeover offer for Prudential, Britain's biggest insurer. The billionaire entrepreneurs were among the Asian backers who wanted to throw their weight behind Prudential's failed $35bn (£22.8 billion) takeover bid for its Asian riva
Read moreLondon close: Sluggish Footsie limps higher
10th Sep 2010 16:38
Modest gains on Wall Street failed to spur London into action and the leading share index closed just a few points higher. US shares were boosted by economic figures showing wholesale inventories jumped by 1.3% in July, ahead of estimates, and sales at distributors rose by 0.6%. Among companies he
Read moreLondon close: Banks behind fresh surge
9th Sep 2010 16:38
Investors were back in love with banks Thursday which, coupled with a big session for the miners, pushed the leading index to a new four-month high. The FTSE 100 finished not far off its best levels above 5,500. It was the first tim eit had traded above the big figure since May 4. British lenders
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Banks lead index higher
9th Sep 2010 15:52
Banks are leading the Footsie's rise with Barclays and RBS topping the best performers. Lloyds is also boosted by the sale of its debt holding in housebuilder Crest Nicholson. Miners such as Xstrata and Vedanta are recovering even though metals prices are weak. Chip designer ARM continues to r
Read moreSector movers: Renishaw gives electronics a boost
9th Sep 2010 14:40
Precision engineer Renishaw is boosting the electronic and electrical equipment sector after saying trading in the first two months of the new financial year has been very positive after particularly strong demand from Japan and the rest of Asia. Banks are going well after Yves Mersch, a member of
Read moreThursday newspaper round-up: Barclays, Vodafone, BP
9th Sep 2010 06:29
John Varley, Barclays' outgoing chief executive, has shot to the top of the City's wishlist for some of the biggest jobs in corporate Britain just a day after announcing that he will hand over to his deputy Bob Diamond in March. Prudential is seen as the most likely option for Mr Varley but Vodafone
Read moreLondon close: US spurs Footsie recovery
8th Sep 2010 16:36
Footsie put its weak start behind it to close with good gains, helped by buoyant trading on Wall Street. US shares recovered from losses yesterday that snapped a recent winning streak. Among the risers here was ARM Holdings. UBS has issued a downbeat assessment of the European semiconductor mark
Read moreLondon afternoon: ARM in line for Samsung boost
8th Sep 2010 14:28
Footsie emerged from the lunch-time session nursing a small gain, with the majority of the blue-chip index's constituents in positive territory. Chief among them was chip designer ARM Holdings. UBS has issued a downbeat assessment of the European semiconductor market but it has made an exception o
Read moreCable renews call for banks to split
8th Sep 2010 12:45
A rift could be growing within the coalition government over the future of the UK's banks after business secretary Vince Cable again called for a split of their retail and investment businesses. Commenting after the appointment of Barclays' investment bank head Bob Diamond as the bank's new chief e
Read moreLondon midday: BP spreads the blame
8th Sep 2010 12:00
It's back to square one for London with the Footsie virtually unchanged at the end of the morning session after early losses were wiped out. News that the US markets look set to open firmer after yesterday's triple-digit fall for the Dow has bolstered confidence this side of the pond. BP edged high
Read moreLondon open: Dull start for blue chips
8th Sep 2010 08:45
Last night's triple-digit drop on Wall Street and further losses in Asia meant a poor start in London. US stocks fell on concerns about the European bank stress tests. Property groups are the best performers with Land Securities, Hammerson and British Land all rising strongly. A potential politic
Read moreWednesday newspaper round-up: Barclays, HSBC, BP...
8th Sep 2010 06:34
The appointment of Bob Diamond as chief executive of one of Britain's biggest banks has split the coalition along party lines, it emerged last night. Downing Street and the Treasury ? both of which were told of the appointment before it was announced ? insisted that they were relaxed about the prom
Read moreLondon close: Winning streak ends
7th Sep 2010 16:48
London's leading share index gave up a winning streak that lasted all last week and continued yesterday. The day started sluggishly and continued in that vein after a lower start on Wall Street. Takeover talk provided much of the excitement, with bid speculation about engineering group Invensys an
Read more