Sector movers: Oil services stocks wanted
26th Jun 2009 11:28
Oil services group Petrofac, lifted yesterday by talk it may be taken over, is helping lift the oil equipment services sector higher. Velosi is top of the pile though. The oil rig safety consultant said on Wednesday that it had made a good start to 2009. Telecommunications stocks are out of favou
Read moreLondon close: Late rally not enough
25th Jun 2009 17:01
A late rally by UK equities was not enough to prevent the blue-chip index closing in negative territory, largely as a result of weak miners, which were weighted down by softer metals prices. Lonmin, Vedanta, Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton were all stuck in the red. Elsewhere in the sector, Anglo Americ
Read moreLondon afternoon: Banks and miners retreat
25th Jun 2009 14:27
Leading equities drift lower in the afternoon session, led by banks and miners. Asia-focused bank Standard Chartered eases back, despite enjoying record income and operating profit in the first five months of this year. Some of this success has been offset by weakness in consumer banking, however,
Read moreLondon midday: Prices drift lower
25th Jun 2009 12:13
Shares continue to drift lower despite expectations of a firm start on Wall Street. Asia-focused bank Standard Chartered eases back, despite enjoying record income and operating profit in the first five months of this year. Some of this success has been offset by weakness in consumer banking, howe
Read moreBT links up with India's Tata
25th Jun 2009 11:18
Telecoms giant BT and India's Tata Communications will be sharing their huge resources after signing a "major" global supply agreement for voice services. The five-year deal sees Tata become BT's primary supplier of International Direct Dial (IDD) and other voice termination services outside BT's o
Read moreFriday newspaper round-up: Gordon Brown, Allen Stanford, BT
19th Jun 2009 06:14
Gordon Brown has signed up to common EU rules for financial supervision but fended off attempts to give new pan-European watchdogs the power to order governments to bail out struggling banks and other bodies. Brown agreed at a summit of EU leaders in Brussels to "a single rulebook" of standards for
Read moreSmall caps round-up: Empresaria, Avon Rubber, InterBulk, Dialight, India Hospitality, Shanta Gold, Cryptologic
18th Jun 2009 09:11
Empresaria, the international staffing group, saw revenues for the current financial year to April, excluding discontinued operations, fall 4% on the same period in 2008 and net fee income down 22%. "These volume reductions are driven largely by reductions in permanent fee income levels (34% down a
Read moreLondon close: Stocks finish lower
17th Jun 2009 16:31
London's leading shares have finished in the red, not getting any help from a mixed start on Wall Street. Miners dominated the fallers with Vedanta Resources, Kazakhmys, Antofagasta, Xstrata, Eurasian Natural Resource amongst the major sliders. Sainsbury's was one of the two non mining stocks to
Read moreBT appoints Tony Ball as non-exec
17th Jun 2009 12:55
Fromer Sky boss Tony Ball is to joing telecoms giant BT as as a non-executive director. Ball, currently chairman of German cable TV business Kabel Deutschland, is widely tipped to take the new chief executive job at ITV following executive chairman Michael Grade's decision to move to a part-time ro
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Sainsbury's unsettled by placing
17th Jun 2009 12:52
Two broker upgrades in the last four days continue to keep BT bubbling higher. Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley both raised their ratings on the back of hopes that global services may be over the worst. J Sainsbury is the main news mover today. It is raising £242m through a placing at 310p and a
Read moreLondon midday: Miners drag Footsie
17th Jun 2009 11:01
London's top stocks are deep in the red with miners lower and supermarket firm Sainsbury's also down. Vedanta Resources, Kazakhmys, Antofagasta, Xstrata, Eurasian Natural Resource are amongst the major fallers. Sainsbury's is the only non mining stock to perforate the top ten sliders. The superma
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Tesco gets warm reception
16th Jun 2009 15:57
Tesco has responded well to its latest trading update, though brokers were a little cautious. Although like-for-like sales growth in the UK heartland picked up, rising to 4.3% in the company's first quarter from 3.7% in the previous quarter, it still lags behind sector peers such as Wm Morrison and
Read moreLondon afternoon: Shares crawl higher
16th Jun 2009 14:19
London's blue-chip index edged higher over the lunch-time session, helped by expectations of a moderately firmer start on Wall Street. Tesco's first quarter trading update has been well received. Like-for-like (LFL) sales growth came in at the top end of expectations, helped by a resumption of gro
Read moreBroker tips: Tesco, BT, Serco
16th Jun 2009 12:58
Broker Charles Stanley expects the market to leave its profit forecasts for Tesco broadly unchanged after the supermarket chain delivered an in-line trading update on Tuesday morning. Although like-for-like sales growth in the UK heartland picked up, rising to 4.3% in the company's first quarter fr
Read moreLondon midday: Lloyds leads rally
16th Jun 2009 12:04
Footsie is making a valiant attempt to claw back yesterday's losses but its progress is being impeded by a weak mining sector. Tesco's first quarter trading update has been well received. Like-for-like (LFL) sales growth came in at the top end of expectations, helped by a resumption of growth in n
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