London open: Weak start for blue chips
4th Dec 2009 08:45
Footsie has fallen back in early dealings after a dip in the US last night while the bank bonus row has spread to Lloyds. Shares in Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland are both under pressure. A report in the Times this morning suggested 200 Lloyds executives will get a bonus of 80% of their salary f
Read moreLondon pre-open: Early fall expected
4th Dec 2009 07:37
Footsie is expected to slip back in early dealings after a fall in the US last night and aas traders mull statements from the housebuilding sector. Housebuilder Bellway predicts sales volumes for the first six months to 31 January 2010 will be 10% better than the same time last year, with an operat
Read moreBerkeley profits slide
4th Dec 2009 07:08
Fewer sales and lower prices sent profits at London and south-east focused housebuilder Berkeley tumbling in the latest six months. Pre-tax profits came in at £52m for the six months ended 31 October, down 35% on the £79.6m in the same period last year. Sales fell to £290m from £453m. Berkeley sai
Read moreFriday preview: Bellway, Berkeley Group, US jobless
3rd Dec 2009 16:28
Friday sees attention switch to Britain's slowly recovering housebuilding sector. Housebuilder Bellway Is expected to announce that housing sales in the first quarter of the company's financial year have been flat, but that it has enjoyed a firming of prices, particularly in the south of England.
Read moreThorntons chairman stocks up
11th Sep 2009 17:13
Thorntons chairman John von Spreckelsen has tucked into another helping of shares in the chocolate retailer, spending £55,000. He paid 110p a time for 50,000 shares, taking his holding to 1.05m, which is 1.54% of the firm. The shares have surged since von Spreckelsen last went on a spending spree
Read moreLondon afternoon: Market in holiday mood
9th Sep 2009 14:22
Footsie made an assault on the 5,000 level over the lunchtime session but fell short, as investors took note of expectations of a flat start on Wall Street. With mergers and acquisition activity back on the agenda British Airways is in demand on hopes of a swift conclusion to its team-up with Spani
Read moreLondon pre-open: Footsie to surrender Tuesday's gains
9th Sep 2009 07:40
A softer start is foreseen for London with traders expecting the FTSE 100 to open down by around 13 points at 4,934 despite some generally favourable news flow on the corporate front this morning. Sportswear retailer Sports Direct said trading levels since July have been ahead of last year and expe
Read moreBerkeley confirms housing market improvement
9th Sep 2009 07:10
London and south-east focused housebuilder Berkeley reports the recent steadying in the housing market has continued with cancellation rates at normal levels and forward sales maintained above £600m in the first four months of its current financial year Berkeley added it does not expect any land wr
Read moreThursday's newspaper round-up: Alistair Darling, Lloyds, RSA
3rd Sep 2009 06:53
International complacency risks plunging the world into a double-dip recession, the Chancellor, Alistair Darling, warned yesterday, according to the Independent. Alistair Darling is scrambling to plug a gaping hole in the $1.1 trillion global rescue package agreed by G20 leaders in London ? hailed
Read moreEnterprise Inns bosses take profits
10th Aug 2009 16:12
Directors at tenanted pub group Enterprise Inns have taken the opportunity to pocket some profits following a strong rally in the firm's share price. Chief executive Ted Tuppen sold 300,000 shares at 167.01p a time, or a total of about £500,000, leaving him with just under 2.9m shares in the firm.
Read moreLondon close: Stocks finish in the red
26th Jun 2009 16:25
London's leading shares finished in the red by close as Wall Street remained in negative territory. Insurer were down with Friends Provident, Prudential and Legal & General lower while miners Eurasian Natural Resources, Rio Tinto and Vedanta were also down. The banks are in a healthier condition
Read moreLondon afternoon: Footsie in red
26th Jun 2009 14:13
London has slipped into negative territory, led by insurers and some wayward miners, while Wall Street is seen starting lower. Friends Provident, Prudential and Legal & General are among the biggest fallers, joined by Eurasian Natural Resources, Rio Tinto and Vedanta. The banks are in a healthier
Read moreLondon midday: Shares crawl higher
26th Jun 2009 12:18
Risers outnumber fallers by two to one among Footsie constituents but the benchmark index is barely in positive territory, as some of the heavily weighted constituents feature among the laggards. The banks are in a healthier condition than six months ago but are still vulnerable to more economic sh
Read moreLondon open: Blue chips move higher
26th Jun 2009 09:02
London's blue chips have opened higher as Wall Street closed up 2% last night and after some reassuring comments about the banks from the Bank of England. The banks are in a healthier condition than six months ago but are still vulnerable to more economic shocks, the Bank of England said in its la
Read moreLondon pre-open: Footsie points higher
26th Jun 2009 07:36
London's blue chips look set to open higher after Wall Street closed up 2% last night. Traders expect Footsie to gain 35 points in early dealings. London-listed drugs giant AstraZeneca and US pharmaceuticals major Bristol-Myers Squibb said their jointly developed treatment for type 2 diabetes has c
Read more