London close: Triple-digit losses for FTSE 100
28th Oct 2009 16:26
A poor performance from mining and financial stocks ensured that Footsie ended with triple-digit losses. Insurer Prudential, which saw a surge in US business but posted a fall in UK sales, was a heavy faller. The Pru lifted group-wide retail sales by 10% to £699m in the third quarter thanks largel
Read moreLondon afternoon: Stocks steady at lower levels
28th Oct 2009 14:10
Miners and financials remain a dead weight around Footsie's neck, but elsewhere, leading shares are slowly beginning to claw back losses. Prudential, which saw a surge in US business but posted a fall in UK sales, is still among the heaviest fallers. The Pru lifted group-wide retail sales by 10% to
Read moreBroker tips: BG, ARM, telecoms
28th Oct 2009 12:57
Third quarter earnings from gas and oil behemoth BG Group were slightly ahead of expectations, according to Charles Stanley, which has retained its 'accumulate' rating for the stock. 'Although Q3 [third quarter] production volumes were slower than expected at +5%, the final quarter is up 12% on Q4/
Read moreBroker snap: BarCap dials into telecoms
28th Oct 2009 12:36
Barclays Capital has initiated coverage of the European telecoms sector with generally positive views of three of the UK's big players. The broker has a price target of 169p for BT , where it sees a chance of rising dividends once the company's cost cutting programme starts delivering. 'We are mind
Read moreLondon midday: Miners join financials on the slide
28th Oct 2009 12:05
Miners have joined financial stocks in the dog house as the Footsie dives below 5200 and threatens to carry on going to sub-5100 levels. With metal prices in retreat miners such as Xstrata, Lonmin and Kazakhmys have muscled aside insurer Prudential in the race to be worst performing Footsie stock.
Read moreWednesday newspaper round-up: Lloyds, RBS, Northern Rock
28th Oct 2009 06:00
Lloyds, Royal Bank of Scotland and Northern Rock will be broken up and parts of their businesses sold off to create three new banks, it emerged last night. Government sources said ministers were "determined" to see more competition in the market, following the £1.2 trillion bailout of the sector whi
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Miners rally again
23rd Oct 2009 16:16
Miners, whose fortunes are linked to global metals prices, were among the strongest performers on a day that ultimately turned out to be quite good for London's blue chips. Kazakhmys, Anglo American, Vedanta and Xstrata were the picks of the mining sector, with Anglo receiving an additional leg-up
Read moreLondon close: Tough day for Footsie
22nd Oct 2009 16:41
Blue chips rallied late in the day, but it was a tough session generally with miners and insurance companies under pressure. Telcos led the rally with Vodafone, British Telecom and satellite group Inmarsat all making gains near the close. Lloyds was also a late riser as on reports that it is close
Read moreFriday newspaper round-up: JJB Sports, Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds
9th Oct 2009 06:14
The government is probing whether Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds are failing to meet officially mandated lending targets by deliberately pricing loans to small and medium-sized businesses at artificially high levels. "We don't want them to make uneconomic loans but our research suggests they may
Read moreSunday newspaper round-up: BAE Systems, Aviva, Lloyds Banking
4th Oct 2009 10:09
Directors of BAE Systems rejected a £300m settlement of a Serious Fraud Office investigation after receiving advice they would leave themselves open to civil lawsuits for a misuse of shareholders' funds. The offer, made by the SFO in recent weeks, came after lengthy talks over a plea bargain deal t
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 moreSunday newspaper round-up: Lloyds Banking, RSA, Yell
30th Aug 2009 11:07
The Lloyds Banking is offering the sale of two regional branch networks to address concerns by the European Commission over state aid and market share. The British bank has offered to sell the Scottish branches of Lloyds TSB and the Cheltenham & Gloucester (C&G) network. This would affect some 340 b
Read moreSunday newspaper round-up: Lloyds, Betfair, Johnston Press
23rd Aug 2009 12:35
Sir Win Bischoff, the incoming chairman of Lloyds Banking Group, is facing pressure to clear out the boardroom. Investors are telling him to beef up the banking experience on the board in the wake of its catastrophic takeover of HBOS, which has already claimed the scalp of outgoing chairman Sir Vict
Read moreLondon close: Blue chips surge continues
30th Jul 2009 16:42
Corporate newsflow and resurgent miners sent Footsie to within a whisker of its highest close this year. Investors piled into blue chips after a string of household names reported earnings this morning. Triple-digit gains for the Dow added to the upward momentum in the afternoon. Telecoms giant
Read moreLondon afternoon: Miners push Footsie higher
30th Jul 2009 14:48
Corporate news-flow and resurgent miners are driving Footsie higher today, with the benchmark index adding to its gains over the lunch-time session. Telecoms giant BT racked up a double-digit percentage gain in the morning after quarterly figures that were not as bad as feared. EBITDA (earnings b
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