London close: Markets fall but Shire leads late rally
25th Jul 2013 17:08
Markets closer firmly in negative territory on Thursday after corporate earnings came in mixed, but the FTSE 100 finished well off its intraday lows following a surge from Shire and upbeat economic data in the States. London's benchmark index finished 32 points lower at 6,588. Investors gave a pre
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Corporate earnings spark mixed reaction
25th Jul 2013 14:09
Mixed reactions to corporate earnings provided some sharp swings in share prices both ways on Thursday, with Rolls-Royce, Shire and Reed Elsevier rising strongly and Capita, Unilever, BT Group and Johnson Matthey falling into the red. Rolls-Royce Holdings jumped after reporting a 34% jump in pre-t
Read moreLondon midday: Markets shrug off UK growth as earnings disappoint
25th Jul 2013 12:07
An expected pick-up in UK economic growth in the second quarter wasn't enough to lift London's FTSE 100 into positive territory on Thursday morning as markets reacted to a series of disappointing results from a number of blue-chip firms. Capita, BT Group, Unilever and Johnson Matthey were all tradi
Read moreBT cheered by sport take-up as top line stays flat
25th Jul 2013 07:04
BT scored a solid rise in underlying profit despite a slight pullback in revenue in the first quarter as it gained encouragement from the launch of its BT Sport channels. The telecoms group, which is taking on BSkyB on its sporting home arena, did see a 16% fall in reported pre-tax profits but wh
Read moreLondon close: American tech giants weigh on global equities
19th Jul 2013 18:04
London's benchmark index closed at 6,631 on Friday, down by 4 basis points. The S&P 500 and Dow Jones closed at fresh all-time highs last night on the back of positive economic data and a raft of corporate earnings which came in better than expected. After the closing bell however, tech giants Goog
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: IMI gains after Citi comments
19th Jul 2013 11:56
Engineering firm IMI was a high riser on the Footsie on Friday after Citigroup named it a 'Most Preferred' stock. The broker said: "We see further significant margin upside at IMI, driven by both mix and restructuring. A strong balance sheet and yield are both supportive, too." In contrast, techn
Read moreLondon open: Stocks fall after gloomy figures from Microsoft, Google
19th Jul 2013 08:13
The FTSE 100 pulled back from a seven-week high on Friday morning after disappointing results from some Wall Street heavyweights last night. London's benchmark index closed at 6,634 on Thursday; the last time the index finished higher was on May 30th when it closed at 6,657. Both the S&P 500 and
Read moreThursday broker round-up UPDATE
11th Jul 2013 08:23
Afren: JP Morgan reduces target price from 195p to 165p and downgrades to underweight. Associated British Foods: Panmure Gordon increases target price from 1800p to 2100p upgrading from hold to buy. AVEVA Group: JP Morgan ups target price from 2300p to 2430p and retains a neutral rating. Aviva: M
Read moreSunday share tips: BT Group, Cairn Energy, Dixons
23rd Jun 2013 18:46
Did outgoing BT Chief Ian Livingston do a good job? Well, the company´s shares fell 3.7 per cent on the announcement, wiping away 1bn pounds from its stockmarket value, so it would certainly seem so. Even so, its stock is up thrice from its 2009 low. Nevertheless, his successor will have to deliver
Read moreLondon close: Markets struggle to regain poise after Fed meeting
21st Jun 2013 17:49
Stocks retreated once again on Friday, following another session of convulsions in global capital markets. Quite poignantly, on Friday one US policy maker - the President of the Federal Reserve bank of St.Louis - criticised Ben Bernanke´s poor timing regarding the announcement of a detailed plan for
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Bunzl, BT Group, Antofagasta
21st Jun 2013 14:29
Multinational distribution and outsourcing company Bunzl gained after analysts at JP Morgan Cazenove reiterated a 'buy' rating in a note issued to investors on Friday. BT Group advanced after appointing Gavin Patterson as its new Chief Executive Officer to replace Ian Livingstone who will step down
Read moreOfcom sides with Sky in round-one of BT battle
20th Jun 2013 12:41
The UK communication regulator Ofcom has ruled in favour of British Sky Broadcasting against one of BT's complaints that the satellite broadcaster was abusing its dominant position. BT complained that Sky had blocked its attempts to advertise on the Sky Sports channels. BT said that by refusing t
Read moreThursday newspaper round-up : Lloyds, RBS, BT, Dolce and Gabbana
20th Jun 2013 06:44
Chancellor George Osborne has signalled the prospect of the first stages of the privatisation of Lloyds Banking Group, The Telegraph reported. He hinted the sale of the state-backed lender's shares within months, saying the bank was in a good position for selling down the taxpayer's 39% internet. Ho
Read moreCEO Ian Livingston leaves BT for government role
19th Jun 2013 12:21
FTSE 100-listed telecommunications giant BT has reported that Gavin Patterson will succeed Ian Livingston as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of BT Group. The group said that Livingston had agreed to take up a role in government as Minister of State for Trade and Investment and would continue as the b
Read moreBSkyB hits back at BT with free broadband blow
14th Jun 2013 16:08
British Sky Broadcasting has landed a counter-punch on rival BT as both companies duke it out for sports fans and broadband customers. A few weeks after BT launched a free sports TV offer for customers who signed up to its broadband, BskyB on Friday launched a counter-offer of free broadband to th
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