London open: Dull start for Footsie
29th Sep 2009 08:51
Three-figure gains in the US overnight haven't helped London much with blue chips going lower in early dealings. Property groups are weak with all of the sector heavyweights - British Land, Land Securities and Hammerson - under pressure. Banks are offsetting some of this weakness after the Times
Read moreLondon pre-open: Stocks to creep higher
29th Sep 2009 07:39
Three-figure gains in the US overnight are set to help London add about 5 points early on, according to futures prices. A pick-up in merger and acquisition activity was behind Wall Street's advance, but much of the rally has been priced in over here already. On the companies front, contract cater
Read moreTuesday paper round-up: Barclays, Sterling, Arm
29th Sep 2009 06:18
Barclays is in talks to buy the banking division of Standard Life. The move is part of its strategy to snap up businesses while its rivals try to rebuild their balance sheets after the financial crisis. Standard Life is talking to several parties, but Barclays is understood to be the most likely b
Read moreSunday newspaper round-up: Cadbury, ITV, Legal & General
27th Sep 2009 19:14
Kraft Foods is poised to launch a hostile bid for Cadbury valuing the British confectionery business at around £11bn, says the Observer. Cadbury is proposing to shrink the size of its chocolate bars to disguise price rises it will be forced to make next year because of high cocoa costs. The move wi
Read moreThursday newspaper round-up: Carlyle, Barclays, Irish banks
17th Sep 2009 06:39
Carlyle has resumed deliberations about a possible public listing, people familiar with the matter say, underscoring the growing confidence of private equity firms as conditions in the financial markets improve. Any initial public offering by Carlyle would be at least six to nine months away, these
Read moreLondon close: Footsie nears 52-week high
16th Sep 2009 17:03
London raced ahead today, with the FTSE 100 crashing through the 5100 barrier near to a 12-month high, though it stopped short of racking up a triple-digit rise. Mining stocks were responsible for a large proportion of the index's rise as metals prices headed north following comments from Federal
Read moreLondon afternoon: Footsie consolidates gains
16th Sep 2009 14:30
The number of FTSE 100 constituents in the red today is in single figures as investors chase up share prices in the wake of relatively upbeat comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke last night. Bernanke said the US recession 'is very likely over at this point,' prompting an advance by gl
Read moreBarclays sells credit market assets worth $12.3bn
16th Sep 2009 13:54
Barclays is restructuring $12.3bn of credit market assets by selling them to a new fund which will buy the assets with a loan from the UK bank. Protium Finance, run by former head of Barclays Capital's principal mortgage trading group, Stephen King, and Michael Keeley, once a member of Barclays Cap
Read moreBroker tips: Next, Cape, UK banks
16th Sep 2009 12:46
KBC Peel Hunt is contemplating upgrading its target price, earnings forecasts and rating for Next after the fashion retailer's impressive interim results on Wednesday morning. The broker expects consensus forecasts for full year pre-tax profit are likely to rise as a result of the half-year update,
Read moreBroker snap: Book profits on banks, Nomura says
16th Sep 2009 11:55
Broker Nomura Securities has warned that shareholders in UK banks should be wary of the potential for a reversal in the sector and advises banking profits. 'The domestic UK banks have rebounded to valuations of 1.4x book value, with the Far Eastern banks on 2.2x. Consequently, we advocate booking s
Read moreWednesday newspaper round-up: Lloyds Banking, Tullow Oil, Barclays
16th Sep 2009 06:15
The European Commission has warned Lloyds Banking Group that it may have to split off Halifax as punishment for the billions of pounds of state aid that it has received. Neelie Kroes, the Competition Commissioner, has yet to make a final decision, but banking sources say it is clear that she is pla
Read moreLondon close: Stocks gain on economic cheer
15th Sep 2009 16:40
Footsie put further distance between itself and the 5,000 point mark as the global economic outlook brightened. The US recession is 'very likely' to have ended, Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said. Here, the UK Consumer Prices Index in August showed an annual increase of 1.6%, the lowest si
Read moreLondon afternoon: Weak retailers out of step
15th Sep 2009 14:18
Leading shares are consolidating the morning's gains, though retailers decline to join the party. Confusion and speculation surrounds the acquisition and fund raising intentions of general insurer RSA. Reports in today's FT suggest RSA indicated at a recent investors conference that it was looking
Read moreLondon midday: RSA's bid plans unclear
15th Sep 2009 12:11
After a quiet but tospy-turvy session the blue-chip index ended the morning in positive territory, despite the UK inflation picture not improving as much in August as expected. The UK Consumer Prices Index in August showed an annual increase of 1.6%, the lowest since level since February 2005 and do
Read moreRegulator fines Barclays £2.45m for reporting errors
8th Sep 2009 10:24
Barclays has been hit with a £2.45m fine by the FSA for failures in its reporting of transactions. The FSA said it discovered discrepancies in Barclays' data while reviewing a suspected incident of market abuse by a third party. 'A subsequent review of Barclays' transaction reporting arrangement
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