London close: US data provides a late boost
3rd Oct 2012 16:34
- US services and labour figures lift stocks - Mixed economic data in China, UK and Europe - FTSE 100 finishes up 0.3 per cent The UK benchmark finished with mild gains on Wednesday afternoon after some better-than-expected data from the US managed to brighten the mood, which was dampened earlier b
Read moreSector movers: Tesco drags retail sector lower
3rd Oct 2012 16:20
The food and drug retail sector was the worst performing sector on Wednesday afternoon after a disappointing set of results from Tesco offset a solid trading update from supermarket peer Sainsbury. After an earlier fall, Sainsbury was higher after saying it had outperformed the market in the second
Read moreWednesday broker round-up - UPDATE
3rd Oct 2012 09:06
African Barrick Gold: Westhouse Secuirites raises target from 464p to 495p. AG Barr: Panmure Gordon keeps hold rating and 440p target. AstraZeneca: Panmure Gordon downgrades from buy to hold, target cut from 3,100p to 3,000p. Barclays: UBS downgrades from buy to neutral, 235p target unchanged. B
Read moreSector movers: SSE lights up electricity stocks after broker upgrade
29th Aug 2012 15:04
Gains for heavyweight utilities group SSE meant that the electricity sector was the best performing category on Wednesday afternoon. The company announced late on that power generation at its Glendoe hydro electric scheme, near Loch Ness, has re-started three years after a rock fall occurred in one
Read moreWednesday broker round-up -UPDATE
29th Aug 2012 09:38
888 Holdings: Investec upgrades from sell to buy target hiked from 18p to 95p. Advanced Medical Solutions: Singer Capital Markets upgrades to buy, target lifted from 80p to 82p. AstraZeneca: AlphaValue downgrades to reduce. Bunzl: Jefferies raises target from 835p to 860p, underperform rating kep
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Xstrata rises despite Glencore CEO's comments
21st Aug 2012 14:45
Shares in Xstrata were higher throughout the day despite Glencore CEO Ivan Glasenberg saying that the proposed merger of the two companies is "not a must-do deal". Speaking to Dow Jones Newswires, he said: "If we don't do it now, we can do it in the future." Glencore was up after beating profit es
Read moreMonday broker round-up
13th Aug 2012 08:16
AMEC: HSBC cuts target from 1,280p to 1,275p, overweight rating kept. Aviva: Exane BNP Paribas downgrades to neutral. British American Tobacco: Nomura keeps buy rating and 3,390p target. British Land: JPMorgan Cazenove ups target from 560p to 610p, overweight rating kept. BSkyB: Nomura maintains
Read moreSector movers: GKN leads autos higher
6th Aug 2012 16:23
Some robust car-sales data out this morning saw the automobiles and parts sector rise strongly on Monday afternoon, with engineering group GKN providing a lift. New UK car registrations rose for the fifth month in a row in July, posting the strongest figures of 2012 so far. Registrations rose 9.3%
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: RBS and Barclays move to the fore
6th Aug 2012 13:55
Royal Bank of Scotland is moving higher after The Sunday Times reported that Brazil´s Banco Itau could be sizing up the lender´s US operations. Those assets could fetch a price of 10bn pounds the paper reported. Barclays was also up on widespread reports that it is planning an overhaul of its bonu
Read moreLondon midday: Footsie rallies after early decline
6th Aug 2012 12:06
- Greece making progress - Monti warns of Eurozone break-up - M&S, Evraz, GKN provide a lift on the Footsie Following an early fall, the Footsie swung into the blue by Monday lunchtime on the back of improving newsflow from Greece. After a meeting between the Troika (European Commission, European
Read moreMonday broker round-up
6th Aug 2012 08:26
AstraZeneca: UBS ups target from 3,500p to 3,600p, buy rating kept. Berkeley: Investec raises target from 1,500p to 1,560p, buy rating kept. Catlin: Nomura reiterates buy rating and 506p target. Centrica: Deutsche Bank downgrades to hold from buy, target cut from 365p to 320p. Falkland Oil and G
Read moreThursday broker round-up
26th Jul 2012 10:41
ARM: UBS ups target from 630p to 645p, buy rating kept. Bodycote: Investec cuts target from 410p to 355p, buy rating kept. BSkyB:Jefferies keeps hold rating and 700p target; Investec keeps hold rating and 680p target. Capita: Jefferies ups target from 750p to 795p, buy rating kept. Capital & Cou
Read moreBig caps round-up: Shell, Lloyds, BG Group ...
26th Jul 2012 07:30
An extraordinary number of FTSE 100 companies released updates on Thursday morning. This is a round-up of the key points for each. AstraZeneca: Revenue for the second quarter was $6,660m, down 18% at constant exchange rates (CER). Core earnings per share (EPS) was $1.53 in the second quarter, a 6%
Read moreLondon pre-open: FTSE to regain some of its recent losses
26th Jul 2012 07:26
City sources predict the FTSE 100 will open up 14 points from yesterday's close of 5,498, tracking gains in the US and Asia. On Wednesday the index closed almost flat, following a far worse than expected GDP figure for the June quarter, news which counter-balanced any positive effect from comments b
Read moreSolid first half from Centrica
26th Jul 2012 07:02
Energy provider Centrica cranked up a healthy increase in underlying profits in the first half of 2012, though the company admitted that its performance had been flattered by unusually low levels of consumption in the UK in the first half of last year. Underlying profit before tax rose in the six m
Read more