London midday: Rally runs out of steam after Bernanke comments
23rd May 2013 11:32
Markets tumbled by around two per cent on Thursday morning as investors chose to take profits in the aftermath of comments from the head of the US Federal Reserve and a disappointing reading of manufacturing activity in China. The FTSE 100 had surged to a fresh 13-year high high of 6,840 the day be
Read moreTuesday newspaper round-up: RBS, Glencore, Apple...
21st May 2013 06:47
Business Secretary Vince Cable has demanded that part-nationalised lender RBS increase its lending to Britain's small- and medium-sized companies to take more responsibility for the economy recovery, The Times says. Financial Times says that the investigations into the potential rigging of oil pric
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: RBS rises into top spot on UBS comments
17th May 2013 14:42
Banks were making a strong rise after UBS lifted its rating for the global banking sector from 'underweight' to 'overweight', saying that the operating environment is beginning to improve. In a research report titled 'Post-crisis banking', UBS said that the tone of its Global FID conference earlier
Read moreLondon midday: Markets rally as banks rise
17th May 2013 11:47
After a subdued start, the FTSE 100 pushed into positive territory ahead of the opening bell in New York with financials leading the rise after a broker upgrade. The Footsie breached the 6,700 mark yesterday for the first time since mid-2007 after 10 consecutive sessions in the blue, before falling
Read moreFriday tips round-up: Bovis Homes, Glencore Xstrata, AZ Electronic Materials
17th May 2013 06:55
Stock of Bovis Homes, along with its peers, saw an extraordinary surge in its share price yesterday, up 12p to 765p, almost twice where it was last June. The stock is approaching a 30% premium to their estimated net asset value; this seems to be building in an awful lot of the future growth expected
Read moreGlencore Xstrata brings in former BP boss as interim Chairman
16th May 2013 13:56
Glencore Xstrata has brought in former BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward as its interim Chairman, a source told Reuters. John Bond, a former Chairman of Xstrata, was voted out of the top job at the newly merged business. He gave no reason for the vote in Zug, Switzerland, which was understood to h
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: easyJet rises after narrowing losses
15th May 2013 14:49
easyJet narrowed its half-year losses as the low-cost airline took initiatives to boost revenues and cut costs. Loss before tax for the six months to March 31st 2013 came to £61m, a 45.5% drop from the prior year's loss of £112m. The LSE also made strong gains after posting a seven per cent rise
Read moreSector movers: Miners drop on global growth concerns
14th May 2013 14:59
Uncertainty about the global economy was weighing heavily on the mining sectors on Tuesday, as concerns over the demand outlook prompted investors to scale back their appetite for risk. Fears of a hard landing in China have dampened sentiment today after JPMorgan Chase & Co cut its economic growth
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Severn Trent tops index after bid approach is confirmed
14th May 2013 14:57
Severn Trent topped the leaderboard after it confirmed press speculation that it has received a bid approach from a consortium of investors, which is rumoured to value the UK utility company around 5.3bn pounds. In a statement released this morning, Severn Trent said it had received an approach with
Read moreLondon midday: FTSE 100 snaps eight-day winning streak as miners fall
14th May 2013 11:50
Strong gains in the utilities sector after a takeover approach for Severn Trent and some well-received results from Babcock International weren't enough to lift markets into positive territory by Tuesday lunchtime, as the FTSE 100 snapped an eight-day winning streak. "The broader market malaise is
Read moreTuesday tips round-up: Banks, Petropavlovsk, Glencore Xstrata
14th May 2013 07:10
Authorities attempts to create a challenger to the main established lending groups - RBS, Lloyds, Barclays, HSBC - are in a state of disarrray after Moody´s six notch downgrade of Co-op last week. Simply put, creating a large new lender is far more difficult and risky than many appreciate. In any ca
Read moreLondon close: Markets extend winning streak despite Fed concerns
13th May 2013 17:04
The FTSE 100 finished with slight gains on Monday, extending the recent winning streak into its eighth day, as markets shrugged off concerns over stimulus measures in the US and disappointing economic data in China. Following a strong rise last week, London's benchmark index reached a closing price
Read moreBroker snap: Glencore Xstrata is a 'core holding', says Tradenext
13th May 2013 16:25
Tradenext has labelled Glencore Xstrata as a 'core holding' in the mining sector following the release of the company's maiden first-quarter production report as a newly-merged firm. After a subdued start, the shares had drifted slightly higher by afternoon trade as the market welcomed the broadly
Read moreLondon midday: Stocks snap winning streak as Chinese data disappoints
13th May 2013 11:51
Disappointing economic data from China on Monday put an end to a seven-day winning streak in London which lifted the FTSE 100 to a five-and-a-half-year high last week. London's benchmark index reached a closing price of 6,625 on Friday afternoon, a level not seen since late 2007, meaning that it ha
Read moreLondon open: Markets pause after strong run last week
13th May 2013 08:48
Weakness in the financial sector meant that the FTSE 100 was in the red on Monday morning, with investors pausing for breath after the index reached fresh multi-year highs last week. London's benchmark index reached a closing price of 6,625 on Friday afternoon, a level not seen since late 2007, mea
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