Friday newspaper round-up: Scottish referendum, Diageo, Alibaba...
19th Sep 2014 06:50
"Alex Salmond's dream of Scottish independence was dashed today after voters threw their support behind the United Kingdom in a result that promises to bury the separation issue for at least a generation," reported The Times on Friday morning. The paper highlighted that 31 of the 32 council areas ha
Read moreBroker tips: Easyjet, Diageo, Booker
18th Sep 2014 11:47
Numis Securities repeated its 'buy' rating for Easyjet on Thursday, hailing the budget airline's decision to lift its dividend payout ratio and order 27 new planes from Airbus. "We believe that the dividend hike, promise of further returns of cash to shareholders and the aircraft option exercise pro
Read moreNomura rules out M&A at Diageo but still sees upside
18th Sep 2014 11:21
Diageo's upcoming first-quarter results are expected to be weak and major M&A is unlikely, according to Nomura, though the broker said it still sees upside as it reiterated its 'buy' stance for the Guinness, Baileys and spirits group. Shares have performed well over the past week as hopes of industr
Read moreLondon open: UK stocks slip ahead of inflation data, Asos drops
16th Sep 2014 08:40
UK stocks opened in the red on Tuesday as investors continued to tread cautiously ahead of a Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) decision and vote on Scottish independence. Investor appetite for risk was also limited ahead of some closely-watched economic data during the session, namely UK inflatio
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: SABMiller jumps on takeover speculation
15th Sep 2014 16:11
SABMiller jumped on the back of speculation that fellow drinks giant Anheuser-Busch Inbev was lining up financing for a possible £75bn bid. At current prices, SABMiller is valued at around £61.5bn. The rumours come after Dutch brewer Heineken turned down an approach from SABMiller. The Heineken fami
Read moreLondon midday: M&A ramps up but weak Chinese data weighs on FTSE
15th Sep 2014 11:47
The UK stock market was poised to finish at their lowest level in more than three weeks on Monday despite a wave of M&A activity, as weak economic data from China dampened sentiment. Nervousness ahead of Wednesday's Federal Reserve policy meeting and a vote on Scottish independence were also limitin
Read moreSunday newspaper round-up: RBS, Scottish independence, Prudential
14th Sep 2014 13:04
Royal Bank of Scotland could have a pension funding gap of up to 5.6bn pounds if Scotland votes to leave the UK, the Sunday Times reported. Other companies such as Lloyds Banking Group and BP would also be affected by a hole of about £100bn in UK corporate retirement plans, according to Credit Suiss
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: CRH continues to fall after interim results
20th Aug 2014 15:59
One of Wednesday's biggest fallers was building materials group CRH, which has seen shares fall since delivering its interim results on Tuesday morning. The company said the sector had had an "encouraging" start to the year, but that it had been trading against a backdrop of "modest, if mixed recove
Read moreLondon midday: UK stocks retreat on rate-hike uncertainty
20th Aug 2014 12:00
- MPC split on rate decision for first time since 2011 - FOMC minutes due out after the close - Ex-dividend stocks, Balfour Beatty weigh on market - Beverage shares hit by Carlsberg results techMARK 2,798.96 -0.07% FTSE 100 6,752.88 -0.39% FTSE 250 15,794.83 -0.63% UK equities retreated from a thr
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Admiral and Glencore shares fall after H1 results
13th Aug 2014 14:49
Car insurance group Admiral was a heavy faller on Wednesday after the group said turnover in the first half was down 5% at £1.04bn as a 9% rise in customers was outweighed by a fall in premiums over last year. The company said that while UK premiums are no longer falling a return to growth remains e
Read moreLondon midday: Stocks advance as rate-hike speculation eases
13th Aug 2014 12:08
- BoE strikes dovish tone as wages fall - Ukraine crisis, Asian data in focus - Ex-dividend stocks limit upside - Banking stocks lead upside techMARK 2,736.01 +0.28% FTSE 100 6,661.68 +0.44% FTSE 250 15,528.53 +0.41% An overall dovish tone to the Bank of England's (BoE) Inflation Report gave UK st
Read moreLondon open: Stocks flat on rate speculation ahead of Inflation Report
13th Aug 2014 09:04
- Inflation Report, rate speculation keeps markets cautious - Ukraine crisis in focus as Russian convoy heads to border - Chinese data disappoints, Japanese GDP sinks - Ex-dividend stocks fall techMARK 2,725.51 -0.10% FTSE 100 6,630.77 -0.02% FTSE 250 15,403.28 -0.40% Weak economic data from Asia,
Read moreWednesday newspaper round-up: BoE, Iraq, Legal & General...
13th Aug 2014 07:13
The Bank of England will publish its latest quarterly outlook for the UK economy [Wednesday], with homeowners and savers alike looking for any indication of when interest rates may begin to rise. November this year or February 2015 remain the best guesses of economists with Britain's economic recove
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Schroders leads fallers
8th Aug 2014 15:45
Shares in Schroders fell on Friday after the boss of sector peer Aberdeen said that investors were too bullish on UK fund managers. Aberdeen's chief executive Martin Gilbert was quoted as saying that the industry "has over-promised and under-delivered". Consumer products groups were also on the d
Read moreSunday share tips: Diageo, Clipper Logistics, HSBC
3rd Aug 2014 18:02
Stay on the sidelines until Diageo chief executive Ivan Menezes has got a grip on his sprawling drinks empire, Danny Fortson advised in the Sunday Times. In his Inside the City column, Fortson said Menezes had inherited a business that was hard to control when he took over last July. The strong poun
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