FTSE 250 movers: Micros Focus on the up following ratings upgrade
5th Apr 2012 15:10
Micro Focus was making gains after UBS raised its recommendation on the stock from neutral to buy and lifted its target price from 440p to 525p. Meanwhile, car and bike parts retailer Halfords took a hit after admitting its like-for-like sales were still heading south in 2012 albeit not as fast as
Read moreLondon open: Stocks rebound after heavy sell-off
5th Apr 2012 08:28
- Market awaits BoE decision - Ashmore flying high after upgrade - Miners recover after sell-off yesterday London's blue chip index rose moderately in early trading on Thursday ahead of a long weekend, recovering after yesterday's sell-off. The Footsie fell 135 points, or 2.3%, yesterday on the ba
Read moreLondon pre-open: FTSE to regain some of yesterday's losses
5th Apr 2012 07:31
City sources predict the FTSE 100 will open up 20 points from yesterday's close of 5,704, as investors pare yesterday's huge losses which saw every single stock on the FTSE 100 become a faller by the end of the day. Investors are now looking to US jobless data for guidance, with unemployment claims
Read moreHalfords facing significant headwinds
5th Apr 2012 07:01
Like-for-like sales are still heading south in 2012 at Halfords, the retailer focused on the needs of car and bike owners, albeit not as fast as they back-pedalled in 2011. The board anticipates underlying group profit before tax of between £90m and £93m for the year to March 30th 2012 and group sa
Read moreThursday preview: Tricky decision for Bank of England
4th Apr 2012 15:35
On Thursday, the Bank of England (BoE) will make its decision on interest rates and its asset purchase programme. Look out for flying pigs if the BoE changes its key interest rate, which has been at its historically lowest ever level since March 2009. Most economists expect the BoE's Monetary Polic
Read moreWeek Ahead: Rate decisions, US jobs, Halfords, Booker
30th Mar 2012 13:17
Easter week sees a welcome slackening of expected corporate newsflow, with trading updates on Thursday from Halfords and Booker the biggest things currently in the company diary. Economic releases tend to stick to a schedule, however, and so the first Wednesday of the month will see the European Ce
Read moreTuesday broker round-up - UPDATE
7th Feb 2012 10:14
Shire: Goldman Sachs reiterates 'conviction buy.' Misys: Berenberg Bank downgrades to hold from buy. BP: Nomura maintains neutral rating and 500p target. Cairn: UBS ups target from 291p to 370p, neutral rating kept; Credit Suisse ups target from 357p to 369p, neutral rating kept. Rio Tinto: Cred
Read moreLondon close: Stocks erase gains, Tesco falls 16%
12th Jan 2012 16:24
Gains were pared in afternoon trade on Thursday following a poor start on Wall Street, meaning that the FTSE 100 finished in the red for the second day in a row. It was a busy day on the corporate news front, with Tesco and RBS grabbing the headlines, while central banks did what was expected and ke
Read moreFTSE 250 movers: Ocado soars on impressive festive sales
12th Jan 2012 15:03
There were plenty of company announcements on the FTSE 250 on Thursday, providing some big swings in the market. The biggest mover was Ocado after the online grocer reported a festive surge with gross sales in the seven trading days before Christmas jump 23.8% from the same period in 2010. Shares
Read moreLondon midday: Banks rise, retailers drop, BoE maintains rate
12th Jan 2012 11:58
After a subdued start, the Footsie seems to have found its direction, trading up near the 5,700 level, helped by the latest Italian and Spanish debt auctions which saw solid demand and a fall in yields. Italy has sold a total of €12bn in bills, with yields on its 12-month debt falling to 2.74% from
Read moreThursday broker round-up - UPDATE
12th Jan 2012 09:08
Reckitt Benckiser: J.P. Morgan Cazenove downgrades to neutral from overweight. Tesco: Nomura reiterates buy rating and 500p target; Panmure Gordon cuts target from 500p to 440p, buy rating unchanged. Royal Bank of Scotland: Shore Capital reiterates sell. Tesco: Shore Capital downgrades to hold fr
Read moreLondon open: RBS rises after shake-up, Tesco plummets
12th Jan 2012 08:28
A sharp fall for the retailers was met with a strong showing by the banks this morning, equating to a flat start for the FTSE 100. It has been reasonably busy on the corporate front, with several firms providing trading statements, but RBS and Tesco dominated the headlines early on. MARKETS CELEBRA
Read moreTough third quarter for Halfords
12th Jan 2012 08:12
Car and bike parts retailer Halfords has seen the fall in retail sales accelerate in the third quarter, which it blames on the mild weather. As such, the UK and Republic of Ireland gross margin is expected to fall by 130-150 basis points on a full-year basis. Total group revenue fell by 2.1% in th
Read moreThursday preview: Tesco's travails in the UK to continue
11th Jan 2012 14:59
There are not many things Britain's number one retailer Tesco does not sell, or so it seems, but tin hats are not among their product lines, which is unfortunate as shareholders may have need of some protection when the supermarket chain issues its Christmas trading update on Thursday. It is hard t
Read moreSunday newspaper round-up: FX, Gas, M&S, RBS, IAG, Tesco
8th Jan 2012 15:00
"The Euro is still above the fair value of $1.25 implied by purchasing power parity - and it has been so ever since its recovery from its disastrous early years. A move well below $1.25, if not quite to $1.10, looks more likely if the US recovery story suggested by yesterday´s unexpectedly strong jo
Read more