London midday: Surge continues
10th May 2010 12:43
Footsie has continued its upward surge on the back of a €720bn deal to prop up the euro agreed by ministers at the weekend. The three-year plan includes €60bn (£52bn) from all EU members, €440bn (£381bn) from the 16-nation eurozone and €220bn from the IMF. Footsie has bounded forward by over 5%.
Read moreLondon pre-open: Rally seen after eurozone rescue
10th May 2010 07:35
World stock markets are set to rally Monday after global authorities put together a £650bn rescue deal they hope will sort out the Greek debt crisis once and for all. European Union finance ministers agreed the €750bn EU and International Monetary Fund bailout fund in talks over the weekend. The th
Read moreCentrica still positive on earnings oulook
10th May 2010 07:02
Centrica remains positive about the earnings outlook for 2010 as British Gas has added over 200,000 residential energy accounts so far this year and the upstream UK business maintains production targets. The group said its UK residential energy supply business British Gas had a "very strong" start
Read moreWeek Ahead:BoE rate decision, Centrica, BT, Sainsbury
7th May 2010 11:44
The Bank of England delayed the meeting of its Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) last week as it clashed with the date of the general election. The date was rescheduled to avoid any accusation of the MPC's decisions on interest rates and fiscal stimulus influencing the election result. The MPC is s
Read moreLondon close:Equities advance on broad front
20th Apr 2010 17:11
London brought its two day losing streak to an end today, despite a mixed reception to the day's major company announcements and a disappointing set of inflation figures. A sharp rise in fuel costs was responsible for much of the acceleration in the inflation rate, which climbed to 3.4% from 3% in
Read moreLondon afternoon: Tesco heads small band of fallers
20th Apr 2010 14:13
The blue-chip index shuffled sideways over the lunch time session with not even expectations of a firm opening on Wall Street encouraging buyers to commit further. Earlier in the day sentiment had received a knock from worse than expected inflation data. A sharp rise in fuel costs was responsible f
Read moreLondon midday: Equities resume upward trend
20th Apr 2010 12:15
Worse than expected inflation figures gave the market pause for thought but leading equities have since recovered their poise and ended the morning session on an upward trend. A sharp rise in fuel costs was responsible for much of the acceleration in the inflation rate, which climbed to 3.4% from 3
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Banks keep Footsie up
15th Apr 2010 11:45
London's leading shares are just above flat as good gains from banks are being offset by weak defensives. Investors are keen on the likes of Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland and HSBC Holdings but defensives are proving a drag. Reckitt Benckiser, Unilever are lower while G4S, Centrica and Thomas Coo
Read moreCentrica buys insulation business
13th Apr 2010 14:49
British Gas owner Centrica has strengthened its presence in the insulation sector with the acquisition of Hillserve, which operates in Northwest England and Wales. It will pay £5m plus an adjustment for net cash within the business of around £1.3m. British Gas established an insulation division in
Read moreMonday paper round-up: Election, Royal Bank of Scotland, ITV
29th Mar 2010 06:34
The Conservatives will try to seize the electoral initiative today with a pledge to reverse part of Labour's national insurance rise due to come into effect next year. After several weeks in which the Tory poll lead has narrowed, George Osborne, the Shadow Chancellor, will announce that the party
Read moreThursday paper round-up: Budget verdict, FSA raids, Rio Tinto
25th Mar 2010 06:29
Alistair Darling combined a raid on the rich with the theft of Conservative ideas in a highly political Budget yesterday that postponed the pain of spending cuts until well after polling day. Faced with a record deficit and an election expected in six weeks' time, the Chancellor delivered a no-fri
Read moreFuming British Gas staff vote to strike
23rd Mar 2010 15:00
More than 8 out of 10 workers at British Gas have voted in favour of strike action in protest at the company's "macho management" style. The GMB trade union, which has 8,000 members, says staff are also angry about changes to staff terms and conditions. It found 82% of members backed a walkout and
Read moreSector movers: Lloyds buoys banking sector
19th Mar 2010 10:52
Lloyds leads the banking sector after giving an impromptu and upbeat trading update ahead of a presentation at the Morgan Stanley european financials conference today. Lloyds will be profitable on a combined businesses basis in 2010, chief executive Eric Daniels claimed Friday. Daniels said trading
Read moreSector movers: Industrial Transportation shrugs off James Fisher weakness
16th Mar 2010 13:02
The industrial transportation sector is going well despite shares in James Fisher sinking a little following the marine service company's full-year results. The company saw a rise in revenues and profits in 2009 as its specialist technical division helped it shrug off the effects of the global econ
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Miners knock market
15th Mar 2010 15:01
Footsie is being led down by mining companies. Six out of the worst ten performers are mining companies. The largest faller is Xstrata, which is thought to be considering a share issue to raise additional cash for its operations. Indian miner Vedanta Resources is also lower but out of the top te
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