Thursday broker round-up
30th Apr 2015 18:01
Schroders: Credit Suisse reiterates outperform and 2,770p target price. Tesco: UBS restarts coverage at buy with 260p target. Pearson: Westhouse Securities reiterates sell and 1,185p target price. RBS: Shore Capital reiterates hold, Numis reiterates add (with 400p target), Investec reiterates hold
Read moreWednesday broker round-up
29th Apr 2015 19:53
Sky: JP Morgan reiterates neutral stance and 1,170p target. GlaxoSmithKline: UBS reiterates buy and 1,700p target. StanChart: Nomura reiterates neutral and lifts target to 1,170p from 1,030p. UBS reiterates neutral stance with 1,000p target. Henderson Group: Citi reiterates buy with 3,250p target.
Read moreLondon close: Stocks retreat further from record on weak US data, Greece
29th Apr 2015 16:30
Stocks dropped sharply again on Wednesday as gloomy US economic data and ongoing uncertainty in Greece hammered sentiment. London's FTSE 100 finished 1.2% lower at 6,946.28, with investors extra cautious ahead of a policy statement at the Federal Reserve after the close. This was the second straigh
Read moreLondon midday: Stocks pause ahead of US GDP and Fed announcement
29th Apr 2015 12:06
UK stocks markets wavered on Wednesday after a sell-off the previous session as investors treaded lightly ahead of economic growth data and a policy decision Stateside. London's FTSE 100 was trading 0.04% lower at 7,027.68 by midday with a flurry of mixed corporate earnings to digest from the likes
Read moreLondon open: Stocks flatline amid earnings flurry ahead of FOMC
29th Apr 2015 09:16
UK stocks opened flat on Wednesday morning as investors digested a barrage of blue-chip earnings and awaited a Federal Reserve policy decision in the US. The FTSE 100 was trading just 0.03% lower at 7,028.48 early on. The index had retreated on Tuesday to 7,030.53 after setting a new all-time closi
Read moreBarclays first quarter profits rise, books provisions for FX
29th Apr 2015 07:11
Adjusted profits before tax at Barclays rose by 9% to £1.85bn over the first three months of the year. That was better than the £1.6bn anticipated by analyst Mike Trippit at Numis. However, statutory group profits decreased by 26% to £1.3bn, as adjusting items which in the year ago period led to a
Read moreWednesday preview: Fed in focus as central bank unveils policy measures
28th Apr 2015 13:33
Investors will be keen to see if the Federal Reserve on Wednesday provides hints on the timing of its first interest rate hike when the central bank releases its policy decision, while the UK corporate calendar sees Barclays, British American Tobacco, Home Retail, Next and Standard Life among those
Read moreUK's four major banks face further £19bn in litigation charges, S&P reveals
27th Apr 2015 12:19
The UK's four largest banks are expected to have £19bn more of litigation costs this year and next, said credit agency Standard & Poors, which said the quartet's credit ratings were safe for now. Although the credit agency said it thought the worst period for charges relating to payment protection p
Read moreFriday newspaper round-up: Conservative campaign, Russia, Barclays
24th Apr 2015 07:28
Business leaders have become frustrated at the tactics and tone of the Conservative election campaign, amid concern in British boardrooms that Ed Miliband is mounting a stiffer challenge for Number 10 than expected. Twenty FTSE 100 and other business leaders have told the Financial Times they are an
Read moreBanks are technologically two decades behind, says Barclays data chief
23rd Apr 2015 14:39
Banks' technology is old but their size makes adopting innovation a long and complicated process, Barclays chief data officer, Usama Fayyad said on Thursday. Speaking at a business conference in London, Fayyad said the banking industry was at risk of becoming a "boring business". "Banks are 10 to 2
Read moreThursday newspaper round-up: Pace, Petrobas, IG Group
23rd Apr 2015 06:53
Set-top box maker Pace has agreed to a £1.4bn takeover by sector peer Arris, reports The Times. The company will hold its annual general meeting on Thursday, at which it will present the recommended deal to shareholders. Brazilian oil group Petrobas, under investigation for a corruption scandal, has
Read moreLondon close: Stocks drop 0.9% in volatile session amid Greek worries
17th Apr 2015 16:38
UK stocks dropped sharply on Friday with the FTSE 100 finishing below the 7,000 level for the first time in seven sessions, after a terminal blackout and changes in Chinese trading regulations. After a positive start, the Footsie ended 65.82 points lower (-0.93%) at 6,994.63, its lowest finish since
Read moreTuesday broker round-up
14th Apr 2015 17:12
Marks&Spencer: UBS reiterates buy and lifts target price to 625p from 590p. HSBC: Credit Suisse reiterates underweight stance and Investec its recommendation to sell. Barclays: Credit Suisse reiterates neutral and 250p target. Tesco: Deutsche reiterates buy and 275p target price. Royal Dutch Shel
Read moreFriday tips round-up: UK Banks, Cranswick
10th Apr 2015 17:27
The loan loss ratio for UK banks stood at 0.14% at the end of 2014 according to Standard&Poor's, versus 0.69% in 2013 - a rare positive for the sector. It is a reflection of faster economic growth, low interest rates, higher property prices, banks' sale of dodgy property loans, lending deemed proble
Read moreUK banks paid 60% of profits in fines, KPMG says
7th Apr 2015 07:25
The UK's largest banks have collectively paid 60% of their profits since 2011 towards regulatory fines and reimbursing customers for mis-selling, according to KPMG. In a new report published on Tuesday, the global advisory firm estimated that such costs, including repayments related to Payment Prote
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