London close: Commodity slide hits Footsie
13th Jan 2010 16:32
Footsie ended the day firmly in the red with low commodity prices helping to offset positive broker coverage. With the oil price below $80, oil titans Royal Dutch Shell and BP found themselves on traders' sell lists. BG Group also slipped even after HSBC upped its price target for the stock from 13
Read moreLondon afternoon: Leading shares mixed
13th Jan 2010 14:57
Leading shares are mixed having picked up a little over the lunch time session, helped by a firmer start on Wall Street. With the oil price below $80, oil titans Royal Dutch Shell and BP find themselves on traders' sell lists, but BG Group makes headway after HSBC upped its price target for the st
Read moreLondon midday: Ferrero pulls out of Cadbury chase
13th Jan 2010 11:56
Oils and banks are dragging the Footsie down, with sentiment also soured by disappointing manufacturing output figures. While industrial production showed a 0.4% rise in November, better than the 0.3% rise economists had been predicting, manufacturing output remained unchanged from October's level
Read moreLondon close: Footsie gives up gains
11th Jan 2010 16:41
The leading share index gave up early gains to finish only slightly higher as euphoria over strong trade figures from China in December gave way to renewed fears over recovery prospects. China's December imports jumped by 55.9% from the same month the previous year, while exports were 17.7% higher
Read moreLondon afternoon: Stocks back on the climb
11th Jan 2010 14:16
Leading shares, which had been surrendering early gains at the end of the morning, picked up again over the lunch time session, helped by expectations of a firm start by Wall Street. In the absence of much in the way of corporate events to attract attention, traders have been focused on broker note
Read moreLondon midday: Footsie loses some sparkle
11th Jan 2010 11:38
Footsie has lost some sheen as miners and property groups have given back some of their early gains. Brokers have been busy with a Citigroup review of the oil sector boosting Cairn Energy. The broker says that fast-tracking the multiwell exploration drilling programme in Greenland has made the grou
Read moreLondon afternoon: US jobs sour sentiment
8th Jan 2010 13:54
Footsie has turned down after a worse than expected US monthly jobs number. Job losses were 85,000 in December against the more optimistic forecasts of a large positive number. In the UK, Kazakhi companies Eurasian Natural Resources (ENRC) and Kazakhmys are on the up while Randgold Resources and B
Read moreLondon midday: Waiting for US jobs data
8th Jan 2010 11:58
The market remains in wait-and-see mode ahead of the release of the change in US non-farm payrolls at 1:30pm. The December figure could be significant in that some economists are expecting it to show the trend for job losses evident since December 2007 has finally ended. Back in the UK leading sha
Read moreLondon close: Footsie flatlines
7th Jan 2010 16:46
A late afternoon rally fizzled out to leave London's blue chip index little changed on the day. Banks emerged from a sticky start as the day's best performers led by Barclays and Lloyds Bank, which both received decent write-ups in an otherwise cautious broker note from Keefe, Bruyette & Woods. It
Read moreLondon afternoon: Banks defy broker gloom
7th Jan 2010 14:27
Leading shares are mixed, with the Footsie barely changed now miners have recovered from a weak showing in the morning session to show gains in the afternoon. Kazakhmys and Fresnillo lead the mining sector but their gains are surpassed by two stocks from the banking sector where Barclays and Lloyds
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Banks mixed, supermarkets higher
7th Jan 2010 13:06
Footsie has hauled itself back into the blue as banks and miners rallied and from a weak start. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods initailly unsettled the bank sector with comments that European banks are 'growing nowhere fast', and has downgraded the sector to 'neutral'. But within that broad sector view i
Read moreLondon close: Strong run continues
5th Jan 2010 16:40
Strength in the financial sector helped Footsie continue its strong start to 2009, closing near its highest levels in more than a year. RBS added to yesterday's stellar gains and is joined higher by fellow banks Barclays and Lloyds. The latter pair have been selected by Deutsche Bank as the best t
Read moreLondon afternoon: Cadbury melts as Nestle withdraws
5th Jan 2010 14:26
The Footsie moved sideways over the lunch time session, with strength in financials and miners continuing to offset weakness among retailers. RBS adds to yesterday's stellar gains and is joined higher by fellow banks Barclays and Lloyds. The latter pair have been selected by Deutsche Bank as the b
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: RBS still climbing
5th Jan 2010 13:11
RBS adds to the strong gains it posted yesterday, and is the best performer in the FTSE 100. Barclays is another riser, boosted by comments from Deutsche Bank, which says the bank offers both growth and recovery potential. Also among today's big gainers is the hedge fund manager Man Group, which
Read moreSector movers: Next caution holds back retailers
5th Jan 2010 12:37
Retailers are on the back foot after Next kicked off the stream of Christmas trading updates by increasing full-year profit forecasts but saying it was cautious on prospects for 2010. Next's fellow clothing retailer Marks & Spencer, which is due to update tomorrow, is another faller. Other notable
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