London midday: Miners pull index lower
29th Oct 2010 11:52
Weak miners and a poor reception to results from British Airways have discouraged buyers generally, despite some encouraging news on the consumer confidence front. GfK NOP's consumer confidence index improved to -19 in October, confounding economists' expectations of a slide to -22 or even lower. T
Read moreLondon open: Slow progress for blue chips
29th Oct 2010 08:42
London has made modest early gains despite a poor session in Asia and unconvincing display on Wall Street overnight. British Airways is lower even though it swung to a profit in the first half as the airline improved yields and cut costs. It made a pre-tax profit of £158m in the six months ended 30
Read moreCairn production almost doubles in Q3
28th Oct 2010 15:52
Cairn Energy, currently exploring for oil offshore Greenland, ramped up production during the third quarter to 169,709 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), almost twice the figure for the first half. The Edinburgh-based firm, which agreed to sell its Indian business to Vedanta in August, also
Read moreLondon close: Footsie struggles
26th Oct 2010 16:24
Investors pocketed gains after an impressive autumn rally, though the decision was made easier by some disappointing corporate news, weak miners and negative broker comment on the insurance sector. The top 100 index fell back sharply from six-month highs, dropping below 5,680 at one point although
Read moreLondon afternoon: Bleak mid-winter for Cairn
26th Oct 2010 14:27
With Wall Street tipped to open lower London's leading shares fell back further over the lunch time period, resulting in the Footsie subsiding below 5700. Cairn Energy tops the list of fallers after it failed to find a commercial discovery at either the T8-1 or T4-1 wells offshore Greenland. The c
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Greenland disappointment for Cairn
26th Oct 2010 14:02
Cairn Energy's failure to find a commercial discovery at either of its wells offshore Greenland has knocked the share price. A strong third quarter performance by chip designer ARM still left some investors thinking that the share price is ahead of events. There has been profit-taking in miners a
Read moreBroker tips: ARM, Cairn, ASOS
26th Oct 2010 12:57
KBC Peel Hunt thinks the rating of high-flying ARM Holdings is vulnerable to a correction and recommends its clients take profits on the stock. Although the chip designer has benefited from the explosive growth of the smartphone market, the broker believes that the rating "is now well ahead of its
Read moreLondon midday: UK growth cuts little ice
26th Oct 2010 12:08
Better than expected UK third quarter growth has cut little ice with investors this morning, who are firmly focused on weak miners, negative corporate news and broker downgrades. Britain's economy grew twice as fast as expected in the three months to September, according to preliminary estimates by
Read moreBroker snap: Bad news priced in at Cairn
26th Oct 2010 10:35
Broker finnCap has lowered its target price for Cairn Energy following a disappointing operational update concerning its Greenland exploration programme. The oil group revealed Tuesday that drilling on Alpha-1S1 ceased at the end of September and that no commercial discovery had been made in its Gr
Read moreLondon open: Light selling hits Footsie
26th Oct 2010 08:43
Footsie has run into light selling as the earnings season hits a brief lull before the heavyweights start to appear at the end of the week. The boom in mobile devices using ARM Holdings' intellectual property was largely responsible for a sharp rise in the chip designer's third quarter profits. Rev
Read moreLondon pre-open: Dull start expected
26th Oct 2010 07:34
The Footsie went into a late swoon yesterday and the trend looks set to continue this morning with City traders expecting the blue-chip index to open around 13 points lower. The continued growth in popularity of mobile devices using ARM Holdings' intellectual property was largely responsible for a
Read moreCairn Energy fails again in Greenland
26th Oct 2010 07:12
A third disappointment during its drilling campaign offshore Greenland slammed Cairn Energy on Tuesday, but the company remains positive even if short term investors don't. News that the T4-1 exploration well in the Baffin Bay region turned up dry follows a similar outcome for the T8-1 well, while
Read moreLondon close: Footsie rallies but finishes lower
12th Oct 2010 16:46
London battled hard to undo early losses, but fell just short, closing a few points in the red, amid a backdrop of lower commodity prices and sobering trading updates. Miners were under the cosh. Xstrata was among the heavy fallers in the mining sector. It said today it is starting work again at
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Miners in decline
12th Oct 2010 15:51
Falling metals prices have knocked the mining companies. Xstrata, Lonmin, and Kazakhmys are the worst hit of the miners, although the whole sector is lower. Xstrata is restarting ferronickel operations at Falcondo in the Dominican Republic next March. It will be running at 50% of installed capacit
Read moreLondon afternoon: Resource stocks a drag
12th Oct 2010 14:09
Equity prices continued to recover over the lunch time session though the blue-chip index remains in the red, largely thanks to the weakness of resource stocks. Xstrata, Lonmin, and Antofagasta are the worst hit of the miners, though the whole sector is lower. Metals prices have fallen back as the
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