London close: Lower finish for FTSE 100
7th Dec 2009 16:59
Footsie staged a recovery after a poor start early on and edged into positive territory in the afternoon but closed slightly lower. Rumours of a windfall tax in Wednesday's pre-Budget report rattled the banks. Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds Banking, Barclays and HSBC fell on suggestions that the Ch
Read moreLondon afternoon: Banks slide on tax fears
7th Dec 2009 14:39
Leading shares recouped some of their losses over the lunchtime trading session but the Footsie remains in negative territory, largely due to the weakness of banks and miners. Rumours of a windfall tax in Wednesday's pre-Budget report has rattled the banks. Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds Banking, B
Read moreLondon close: Rate rise fears fuel late slide
4th Dec 2009 17:17
Euphoria over the better than expected US jobless figures proved short-lived as week-end profit taking took hold and miners headed underground. Metal prices weakened in the afternoon session, taking mining stocks with them, as some pundits suggested that with the better than expected jobless figure
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Banks in demand
3rd Dec 2009 18:06
Barclays was wanted after the Telegraph reported that it is set to award its 22,000 investment bankers pay rises of up to 150%. Lloyds Banking was also higher, as was Royal Bank of Scotland. Market makers initially marked RBS lower on news that that the bank's board is threatening to resign en mas
Read moreLondon close: Miners eclipse banks to send index lower
3rd Dec 2009 16:35
London closed on a low note as a good day for bank shares was offset by dips for the miners and oil groups. Banking shares marched forward despite an assertion by influential US bank Goldman Sachs that commodity prices are set to rise in 2010. Goldman Sachs also seems to be out of step in its view
Read moreSector movers: Bearish Goldman fails to dent banks
3rd Dec 2009 12:37
The banking sector has shrugged off a bearish note from Goldman Sachs to post good gains. The broker downgraded the sector to 'neutral' following its recent strong showing, saying that large global retail banks are likely to be the stocks to hold in the sector. Barclays is wanted after the Telegra
Read moreLondon midday: Shares lack direction
3rd Dec 2009 12:11
Banking shares are still marching forward but gains are countered by weakness among miners, despite an assertion by influential US bank Goldman Sachs that commodity prices are set to rise in 2010. Goldman Sachs also seems to be out of step in its view of banks today, having downgraded the sector to
Read moreLondon close: Footsie rallies above 5,300
1st Dec 2009 16:14
Strength in the US, a record gold price and fight back by the banks had London at session highs by the close of play. Markets decided that fears about Dubai's debt have been overdone. State-owned Dubai World said it had held "constructive" talks with banks and flagged plans to restructure nearly ha
Read moreLondon afternoon: Triple digit gain for Footsie
1st Dec 2009 14:59
Leading shares kicked on again in the afternoon session after US markets opened firmer, with the number of Footsie constituents showing a loss on the day being countable on the fingers of one hand. Mining stocks are going well on hopes of a sustained recovery in Chinese manufacturing. Silver miner
Read moreFTSE movers: Miners rise
1st Dec 2009 14:03
Mining shares are strong today with both Fresnillo and Xstrata in the top ten Footsie performers. Xstrata has entered into an agreement to sell its 19.9% stake in Indophil Resources NL to Zijin Mining for A$1.28 a share. Zijin has agreed bid terms with Indophil, whose main asset is a 34.23% inter
Read moreLondon close: Footsie bounces back
27th Nov 2009 16:28
Footsie ended the day with good gains as investors' nerves calmed following sharp declines on the back of worries about the financial sector's exposure to a debt default by Dubai World. Shares initially fell, adding to heavy losses yesterday after Dubai stunned financial markets when it announced t
Read moreLondon afternoon: Footsie advancing again
27th Nov 2009 14:11
Footsie has rallied and is now showing modest gains as worries over the Dubai debt situation ease. Royal Bank of Scotland has led teh recovery having calmed nerves by saying it has signed up for the government's asset protection scheme (APS). The bank said in a statement that the agreement was sign
Read moreLondon midday: Footsie still lower
27th Nov 2009 12:41
Footsie is still sitting slightly lower amid continued worries over the Dubai debt situation. But Royal Bank of Scotland is now going well having fallen back in early dealings on fears over the financial sector's exposure to a debt default by Dubai World. RBS calmed nerves by saying it has signed u
Read moreLondon open: Dubai fall-out hits again
27th Nov 2009 08:42
London has opened better than forecast after panic on Asian markets overnight over the problems in Dubai. Japan's Nikkei was down 301 points to 9,081, a new four-month closing low. Banks were bashed on worries about the financial sector's exposure to a debt default by Dubai World. Hong Kong fell ov
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Miners power forward
23rd Nov 2009 15:16
Miners have soared on a combination of dollar weakness and rumours of a 74.4 tonnes of gold sitting at the $1,200 strike. If the market starts to approach this level, and hits it then the gold price will spike as those contracts would have to be covered, traders say. Other metals have also soare
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