London close: Losses narrow
15th Dec 2009 16:33
Top shares fought back late afternoon to halve losses, but most financial issues stayed lower, while oil plays also ended friendless. Turmoil in the Greek banking sector since credit ratings agency Fitch downgraded the country's sovereign debt last week continued to hurt. Barclays and HSBC were am
Read moreLondon afternoon: Banks continue to weigh
15th Dec 2009 14:51
London is off its worst levels of the day, but remains deep in the red as finance plays suffer on fears about the strength of European peers. Barclays and HSBC are among the worst performers as Greek rivals slump on worries about their country's budget deficit. Reports, later denied, that Austria'
Read moreLondon midday: Footsie drifts back
15th Dec 2009 12:12
Footsie has drifted slightly lower as banks and miners join British Airways among the heaviest fallers. The airline is in focus amid expectations of a 12-day strike over Christmas. BA said it is mulling "all options" to cope with the planned action by cabin crew over the Christmas period. BA is
Read moreSector movers: Transportation stocks buoyant
15th Dec 2009 11:57
One of the most buoyant sectors today is industrial transportation, in spite of a sharp fall in the share price of Interbulk. The container operator saw pre-tax profits in the year to 30 September fall to £3m from £4.6m over the same period the previous year on revenues that slipped to £232.5m fro
Read moreLondon open: Dull start as BA suffers
15th Dec 2009 09:02
London's top stocks have turned lower as investors take a breather following recent gains. British Airways has generated most headlines this morning. The embattled airline is drawing up contingency plans to cope if the planned 12-day strike by cabin crew goes ahead. An injunction is one option, but
Read moreSector movers: Dubai bailout buoys banks
14th Dec 2009 10:17
Banks have moved higher following the decision of Abu Dhabi to bail out Dubai, its financially embarrassed neighbour. Standard Chartered leads the sector higher after receiving a boost in the form of an upgrade by Credit Suisse, which highlighted the low exposure to Dubai as well as the bullish tra
Read moreSunday newspaper round-up: Cadbury, Barclays, Bonuses
13th Dec 2009 11:20
Crunchie to Crème Egg chocolate maker, Cadbury, will tomorrow unveil its formal defence document, spelling out why the future is so creamy that it doesn't need Kraft Food's £10bn hostile takeover bid which has caused a furious response. Chairman Roger Carr and chief executive Todd Stitzer are expect
Read moreLondon close: Financials lead advance
10th Dec 2009 16:31
UK shares closed not far off their best levels of the day as a strong start on Wall Street built on substantial support for UK-listed financial plays. Investors welcomed Alistair Darling's decision yesterday not to slap a windfall tax on banks and speculation that British lenders had agreed to resc
Read moreLondon afternoon: RBS rises on asset sale hopes
10th Dec 2009 14:19
Rises outnumber falls by around three to one among Footsie constituents, as the blue- chip index consolidates the morning's gains. Banks and insurers remains the flavour of the day, while properties and miners are out of favour. Royal Bank of Scotland leads the market rally on press reports that i
Read moreBarclays upsets Indian regulator
10th Dec 2009 12:43
The Indian branch of Barclays has been told by the local regulator to stop trading offshore derivatives, it has emerged. It is accused by the Securities & Exchange Board of India of providing incorrect and false information on clients who'd traded shares in telecoms giant Reliance Communications.
Read moreLondon midday: Banks lead rally
10th Dec 2009 12:34
Financial stocks are driving the market higher, with banks and insurers featuring prominently among the best performers. In the banking sector RBS, Lloyds and Barclays rack up the best gains while among insurers Standard Life, Legal & General and RSA are to the fore. Property stocks, however, are
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Lloyds leads bank revival
10th Dec 2009 11:05
London's blue chips have reacted calmly to yesterday's pre-Budget news, with banks the best performers despite the imposition of a bonus tax on their highest paid staff. Lloyds, Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland are three of the top four performers, possibly on relief that the bonus tax was not a
Read moreThursday newspaper round-up: Citigroup, HSBC, RBS
10th Dec 2009 06:10
Citigroup is in advanced talks with regulators over plans to raise more than $15bn in an equity offering, in an effort to repay $20bn in bail-out funds as early as Thursday. People close to the situation said that Citi was also planning to raise around $2bn of mandatory convertible securities - a ne
Read moreLondon close: Afternoon rally fizzles out
9th Dec 2009 17:13
The Chancellor's pre-Budget Report speech had little effect on UK equities, with much of its content widely expected while others subscribed to the view espoused by the Shadow Chancellor that it was more of a 'pre-election report' than a pre-Budget report. As expected, banks that pay excessive bonu
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Financials and miners head lower
9th Dec 2009 15:50
Financials and mining companies dominate the fallers in the FTSE 100. The index was in positive territory before the Pre-Budget Report but it fell back in the early afternoon. The financials heading downwards include Old Mutual, Man Group, Legal & General, Barclays and Resolution. Barclays will ce
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