London afternoon: Winter woes fail to hold back FTSE 100
6th Jan 2011 14:51
It's three out of three days of gains so far this year for the top share index, with the impact of snow on retailers and other businesses over the Christmas failing to hurt overall sentiment. Miners such as gold group Randgold and industrial metals specilists Vedanta Resources and Xstrata are wante
Read moreLondon midday: New highs for FTSE 100
6th Jan 2011 12:12
The top share index is posting gains for the third day in a row and is trading at levels not seen since May 2008. Gold miner Randgold leads the mining sector higher as the price of gold stabilises. Vedanta Resources and Xstrata are the other stand-out stocks in the sector. It is chip designer ARM
Read moreLondon open: Flat start for FTSE 100
6th Jan 2011 08:32
The top share index is little changed in early dealings but a raft of trading updates from retail and other sectors has given traders plenty to ponder. Mother and baby retailer Mothercare today warned that it now expects full year underlying pre-tax profit to be below current market expectations af
Read moreLondon pre-open: Flat start on cards
6th Jan 2011 07:37
London is expected to start little changed after last night's gains on Wall Street and a mixed session in Asia. Futures are currently pointing to a drop of 2 points when trading gets underway, keeping the FTSE 100 in touch with its highest levels in 2½ years. Greetings card specialist Clinton Car
Read moreHays enjoys international surge
6th Jan 2011 07:02
Recruitment giant Hays grew net fees by more than a fifth during its second quarter as rapid growth at the international business made up for a drab performance in the UK. Net fees on a like for like basis - organic growth at constant currency - was up 21% in the three months to 31 December, in lin
Read moreThursday preview: Hays, Clinton Cards
5th Jan 2011 16:29
The recruitment group Hays kicks off a series of updates from the sector. Hays has been looking east of late, seeking to plug the gap left by weakness in the UK and other European countries. Asia-Pacific is expected to lead the charge in Thursday's update. "We think the public sector weakness has
Read moreWeek Ahead: Next, Clinton Cards, Recruiters
4th Jan 2011 08:45
With the January sales in full swing, attention in the first week of the new year will be on retailers with fashion group Next and greetings cards seller Clinton Cards due to update the market. Recruiters Hays and Robert Walters are also due to report. Tuesday UK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS M4 Money
Read moreDiamond family fund sinks £1m into Barclays
13th Dec 2010 16:30
Bob Diamond's family trust has invested nearly £1m in Barclays shares. The Barclays chief executive elect is a connected person to the Diamond Family Foundation, which has bought 363,179 shares at an average price of 273.97p a share. The total cost was £995,000. Diamond, who takes over as chief
Read moreHays steady as Lawson says goodbye
10th Nov 2010 07:44
Not much as changed at Hays since the recruitment firm's last update a month ago when it reported a big jump in net fees during the third quarter and strong and broad based growth across most of its markets. In his last AGM as chairman, Bob Lawson sad the outlook is good across 90% of the company's
Read moreBroker tips: Mid-cap income plays, Carnival, Speedy Hire
8th Oct 2010 13:15
Broker Charles Stanley has run the microscope over constituents of the FTSE 250 index looking for key income buys and come up with five likely candidates. Though the broker was looking at stocks primarily for their attractive yields, it makes a good case for diving into the FTSE 250 for capital app
Read moreBroker snap: Key FTSE 250 income plays
8th Oct 2010 12:58
Broker Charles Stanley has run the microscope over constituents of the FTSE 250 index looking for key income buys and come up with five likely candidates. Though the broker was looking at stocks primarily for their attractive yields, it makes a good case for diving into the FTSE 250 for capital app
Read moreLondon close: Footsie closes on low note
7th Oct 2010 16:52
Footsie turned down in the afternoon session despite better than expected US jobs and retail sales figures. US shares did not respond to the economic data and by midday the Dow was showing strongly red. In Europe, interest rates were left on hold by both the Bank of England and European Central ba
Read moreLondon afternoon: BoNY-M stalking Man
7th Oct 2010 14:37
Better than expected US jobless figures have given the UK market a lift, with the Footsie now knocking on the door of 5700. Mining stocks are, by and large, still refusing the join the party. Copper miners Kazakhmys and Antofagasta lead the sector lower. Indian miner Vedanta is holding up though
Read moreLondon midday: Status quo maintained
7th Oct 2010 12:14
The Bank of England announcement on interest rate and quantitative easing (QE) policy was a non-event, with the Bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) electing to maintain the status quo. Leaving the base lending rate unchanged was no surprise but there was a slight possibility that QE would be res
Read moreInternational growth drives Hays
7th Oct 2010 07:47
The UK and Ireland are letting the side down at international recruitment firm Hays, which otherwise saw strong growth in fees across all its geographic regions in the third quarter. Net fees rose 18% on a like for like (LFL) basis in the July to September quarter from the corresponding period of l
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