London open: Footsie pushes on
17th Mar 2010 08:47
London has pushed on again this morning following strength on Wall Street late yesterday as US interest rates remained on hold. Miners have picked up as the dollar weakened after the decision by the Federal Reserve. Best performers so far include silver miner Fresnillo, Xstrata and ENRC. Aquarius P
Read moreLondon close: Miners pull index lower
11th Mar 2010 17:02
London bounced off 5,600 despite a weak start on Wall Street but still closed in the red on a poor day for miners. Falling commodity prices and China inflation concerns prompted profit taking in Fresnillo, Randgold, Rio Tinto, ENRC, Kazakhmys, BHP Billiton and Xstrata. Speculation rose that Chin
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Miners spooked by China
11th Mar 2010 15:56
Miners dominate the fallers on the Footsie today as they are hit by fears that the Chinese government may try to hold back growth in the Chinese economy. Kazakhmys and Fresnillo are the biggest fallers. Wound care company Smith & Nephew lost a US patent infringement case brought by Kinetic Concept
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Footsie ahead despite ex-dividends
10th Mar 2010 16:19
Resources companies and banks are heading the risers on the Footsie, while the forward momentum has been held back by a raft of companies going ex-dividend. Rising copper prices have boosted the shares of Fresnillo, Eurasian Natural Resources and Xstrata. RBS upgraded oil services provider Petro
Read moreLondon open: Footsie rising again
5th Mar 2010 08:47
UK equities have opened firmly helped by another good session on Wall St and more gains for the banks. Schroders, Royal Bank of Scotland, Barclays and Standard Chartered lead the financials higher, while Fresnillo, Lonmin and Xstrata are strong among the miners. Swiss group Glencore International
Read moreLondon close: Footsie suffers hiccup
4th Mar 2010 16:40
The blue chip index failed to stretch its winning streak to a fifth session, falling for the first time this week on negative results reaction and downbeat miners. It held above 5,500 all day despite coming close just after trade began and towards the end of play. Engineering and project managemen
Read moreLondon midday: Footsie drifting sideways
4th Mar 2010 12:13
Footsie is trading sideways after the Bank of England decided on no change to its stance on interest rates and quantitative easing. UK interest rates stay at 0.5% and the QE programme at £200bn. On the company front, results are dominating. Engineering and project management firm Amec is worst of t
Read moreLondon open: Footsie struggles early on
4th Mar 2010 08:30
A four-day winning streak could end Thursday after a poor start following last night's late sell-off on Wall Street, weaker miners and some disappointing company results. Engineering and project management firm Amec is worst of the blue chips as investors react badly to a 3% slip in revenues, or 12
Read moreLondon close: Insurers left behind
2nd Mar 2010 17:07
A firm start on Wall Street gave fresh heart to UK equities, with financial stocks to the fore, with the notable exception of insurers. Ahead of results tomorrow Standard Chartered was wanted in a buoyant banking sector while elsewhere in the financial sector property groups such as SEGRO and Hamme
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Standard boost
2nd Mar 2010 15:22
Financials and commodities are pushing the Footsie forward although Prudential is still falling back. Standard Chartered is rising ahead of its 2009 figures tomorrow. The Asia-focused bank is expected to announce profit before tax of $5.1bn. Market consensus is for earnings per share to fall somew
Read moreLondon afternoon: Footsie consolidates gains
2nd Mar 2010 14:13
Leading shares consolidated gains over the lunchtime session though it remains a bad day to be invested in the insurance sector. Insurer Prudential is under the cosh again as investors bale out ahead of an expected monster cash call to finance the group's acquisition of AIG's Asian assets. RSA In
Read moreLondon midday: Banks bounce back
2nd Mar 2010 12:08
Although base metal miners have reversed course and are now heading south the FTSE 100 index has added to early gains, helped by a surge in interest in banking shares. Ahead of results tomorrow Standard Chartered is leading the banking sector higher. Part-nationalised lenders Royal Bank of Scotland
Read moreLondon open: Steady start for Footsie
2nd Mar 2010 08:40
Footsie has edge higher in early dealings following a strong showing from Wall Street yesterday. After recent slew of results from the Footsie heavyweights it is the mid-caps day Persimmon completed 8,976 house sales last year and the housebuilder has seen a 7% increase in sales and steady prices s
Read moreFresnillo profits double
2nd Mar 2010 07:31
Fresnillo, the world's biggest primary silver producer and Mexico's second largest gold producer, more than doubled profit after tax in 2009 on higher metal prices and record silver output. Profit leapt to $358.27m from $152.78m in 2008, helped in part by a 13.5% reduction in its tax bill to $99m.
Read moreLondon close: Strong finish for FTSE 100
1st Mar 2010 16:30
The leading share index finished on a strong footing as strength in the mining sector and gains on the back of company updates helped offset a weak performance from financial stocks. Miners were in demand following a rise in copper prices following the earthquake in Chile, the world's number one p
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