London midday: Decent morning for Footsie
18th May 2010 12:10
Footsie has made decent progress this morning helped by gains for utilities and the non-bank and insurance bits of the finance sector. Man Group is the best performer on reflection of yesterday's deal to buy GLG for $1.6bn. Inter-dealer broker ICAP is also in demand, while mezzanine finance lende
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Negative reaction to Man deal
17th May 2010 14:42
Footsie is having a positive day but hedge fund group Man is the main focus. The $1.6bn purchase of GLG Partners has knocked the Man share price making it the biggest faller on the index. The purchase price is equivalent to 6.75% of funds under management. This is thought by many to be a high pric
Read moreMan to buy GLG for $1.6bn
17th May 2010 08:02
Hedge fund manager Man Group has agreed to buy New York-listed rival GLG Partners for $1.6bn. Man will pay $4.50 a share in cash to public stockholders of GLG, representing a premium of around 55% to Friday's closing price. The combined group would have about $63bn of funds under management. The
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Reckitt leads market down
27th Apr 2010 15:10
Disappointing results from household products supplier Reckitt Benckiser make it one of the poorest performers on the day. Only hedge fund firm Man Group has fallen further. Reckitt reported a rise in earnings and sales for the first quarter. The firm said operating profits rose by 14% to £461m. R
Read moreLondon close: Greek problems resurface
22nd Apr 2010 16:45
Worries about Greece's debt situation knocked global markets and kept Footsie in the red at the close. Greece's financial situation came under scrutiny again after the statistics agency Eurostat warned the country's 2009 budget deficit was 13.6%, more that the 12.7% previously estimated, and warned
Read moreLondon afternoon: No help from US
22nd Apr 2010 14:59
Footsie is not being helped by the US, which has started deep in the red, as worries about Greece's debt situation knocks global markets. Greece's financial situation is under scrutiny again after the statistics agency Eurostat warned the country's 2009 budget deficit was 13.6%, more that the 12.7
Read moreLondon midday: Greek worries resurface
22nd Apr 2010 11:56
Footsie remains deep in the red now as concerns about Greece's debt situation resurfaced. Greece's financial situation is under scrutiny again after the statistics agency Eurostat warned the country's 2009 budget deficit was 13.6%, more that the 12.7% previously estimated. Financials are the majo
Read moreLondon close: Footsie finishes in the red
13th Apr 2010 16:16
Footsie finished slightly in the red but recovered from earlier lows as the benchmark index slumped in the afternoon following a poor start on Wall Street. US aluminum producer Alcoa fell after revenue came in short of expectations, which weighed on the mining sector in the UK. Kazakhmys, Fresnill
Read moreLondon close: Footsie retreats from 21-month high
7th Apr 2010 17:18
An attempted rally by blue-chip stocks petered out in the final hour of trading and the Footsie finished close to its low for the day. Miners were a drag on the index throughout the day though gold miner Randgold Resources was a bright spot. Hedge fund giant Man was the best performer. Last night
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Man boosted by NAV figure
7th Apr 2010 16:11
Footsie is barely changed on the day and some of the main movers have been sparked by news. Hedge fund Man is the best performer following last night's announcement that the net asset value of the AHL fund had risen 3.81% last week. This prompted broker Execution Noble to publish a 'buy' note for
Read moreLondon afternoon: Footsie in drift mode
7th Apr 2010 14:46
Footsie is becalmed after a weak start in the US and mixed news on the UK economy. Hedge fund giant Man remains the best performer. Last night the company disclosed that the net asset value of the AHL fund had risen 3.81% last week, prompting brokers Execution Nobel to rush out a 'buy' note, while
Read moreLondon midday: Footsie flat on quiet morning
7th Apr 2010 12:04
Footsie has recovered its early losses but investors are struggling to find reasons push it any higher ahead of the US open. The share price of hedge fund giant Man has become a lot more volatile since it switched to more frequent updates of the performance of its flagship AHL fund. Last night th
Read moreLondon open: Blue chips drift lower
7th Apr 2010 08:51
Blue chips have opened lower following an indecisive performance in the US last night as concerns over the financial health of Greece resurfaced. Hedge fund giant Man is one of the few strong risers alongside property giants Land Securities and Hammerson. Mobile phone giant Vodafone is to launch a
Read moreLondon afternoon: Sleepwalking lower
26th Mar 2010 14:05
It's been a good week for the Footsie but it looks set to end with a whimper rather than a bang. With corporate news thin on the ground broker commentary is driving much of the action. Unilever is downgraded to neutral from 'overweight' by HSBC on sales volumes concerns. Hi-tech weapons group Qi
Read moreBroker tips: Next, easyJet, Man Group
25th Mar 2010 13:33
Preliminary results from fashion chain Next were slightly better than Panmure Gordon had been anticipating, with profit before tax coming in at £504.6m versus Panmure's prediction of £497.1m. The final dividend, at 47p, was also a lot more generous than Panmure Gordon's forecast of 41p, and 'shows
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