London midday: Equities drift lower
13th Apr 2010 12:07
Mining stocks remain a drag on the Footsie but retailers see some support following the release of upbeat retail sales data. UK retail sales in March rose at their fastest rate in almost four years thanks to the earlier timing of Easter this year, new figures from the British Retail Consortium show
Read moreLondon close: Paltry gains for FTSE 100
12th Apr 2010 16:36
Footsie closed just a few points in the blue after an unusually sluggish day, even for a Monday. In the absence of any blockbusting company news much of the share price activity has been generated by newspaper or broker comment. Antofagasta was one of many laggards in a soft mining sector after
Read moreLondon afternoon: London lays low
12th Apr 2010 14:36
Traders who stuck to their dealing screens over the lunchtime session were left wondering why they bothered as they market remained as quiet and as uneventful as it had been in the morning session. In the absence of any blockbusting company news much of the share price activity has been generated b
Read moreBroker tips: Home Retail, Croda
12th Apr 2010 13:13
Shares in Argos and Homebase owner Home Retail were a hot ticket on Monday morning after the Mail on Sunday reported that Asda, which is owned by the world's biggest retailer, Walmart, is considering a bid for the company. The share price is closing in on 300p, but there could be more juice to be
Read moreBroker snap: Asda plus Home Retail makes sense
12th Apr 2010 13:11
Shares in Argos and Homebase owner Home Retail were a hot ticket on Monday morning after the Mail on Sunday reported that Asda, which is owned by the world's biggest retailer, Walmart, is considering a bid for the company. The share price is closing in on 300p, but there could be more juice to be
Read moreLondon midday: Home Retail rises on bid talk
12th Apr 2010 11:59
Hopes that news of the rescue package for Greece would give renewed impetus to London's advance are proving unfounded, as the Footsie is weighed down by weak miners. Xstrata leads the mining sector lower, with ENRC and Antofagasta not far behind. The last mentioned was recently downgraded to 'hold'
Read moreSector movers: Retailers on the rise
12th Apr 2010 11:29
Takeover chatter and upbeat broker coverage is lifting retail stocks. Talk that Asda, the UK supermarket group owned by the US retail giant Wal-Mart, has Home Retail Group in its sights has lifted the Argos and Homebase owner. Supermarket Sainsbury's is higher after a double upgrade from BofA Mer
Read moreFTSE 100 movers:
12th Apr 2010 11:26
Talk that Asda, the UK supermarket group owned by the US retail giant Wal-Mart, has Home Retail Group in its sights has lifted the Argos and Homebase owner. Elsewhere in the world of retail and supermarkets, Sainsbury's is higher after a double upgrade from BofA Merrill Lynch to 'buy' from 'underp
Read moreLondon close: Footsie retreats from 21-month high
7th Apr 2010 17:18
An attempted rally by blue-chip stocks petered out in the final hour of trading and the Footsie finished close to its low for the day. Miners were a drag on the index throughout the day though gold miner Randgold Resources was a bright spot. Hedge fund giant Man was the best performer. Last night
Read moreLondon close: Further boost for shares
23rd Mar 2010 16:43
Rising commodity prices, US strength and some well-received company updates sent London to a fresh 21-month closing high Tuesday. The leading index hasn't finished up at this level since 19 June 2008 and is just one decent session away from breaking through 5,700. Cairn Energy was easily the most
Read moreFormer UKFI boss buys Lloyds shares
23rd Mar 2010 16:38
Glen Moreno has bought his first shares in Lloyds Banking Group since he was appointed senior independent non-executive director of the company on 1 March. He has bought 50,000 ADRs, which is the equivalent of 200,000 shares, at $3.69 each. That is equivalent to just over 61p a share, making the c
Read moreLondon afternoon: Full steam ahead for Carnival
23rd Mar 2010 14:15
London's leading shares consolidated gains over the lunch-time trading session after notching up solid gains in the morning. Cairn Energy remains the stand-out performer among blue-chips by some distance. The oil group raised its forecast for peak production from its Indian assets by over a third t
Read moreRexam executives add to holdings
16th Mar 2010 16:46
Can maker Rexam's new chief executive and finance director have both increased their shareholdings in the company. Chief executive Graham Chipchase bought 47,811 shares at 291.9p a share. This £140,000 investment took his stake to 164,345 shares. Chipchase originally joined Rexam as finance direc
Read moreBroker tips: Old Mutual, Home Retail, Connaught
12th Mar 2010 13:15
The strategy update from South African insurer Old Mutual has left Nomura Securities largely unmoved. Old Mutual 'remains a predominantly South African bancassurer combined with Skandia's Northern European presence and a US asset management unit,' opines Nomura analyst Nick Holmes. 'The only real n
Read moreBroker snap: Mixed signals from Home Retail
12th Mar 2010 12:55
Homebase and Argos owner Home Retail Group 'posted a mixed but incrementally positive fourth quarter update' earlier this week, according to Numis Securities, but the broker thinks the group will be 'challenged to make progress in 2010/11.' Like for like sales (LFL) figures from Argos were weak but
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