London midday: FTSE 100 at 15-month high
29th Dec 2009 12:21
London's blue chip index is now back above the levels before the collapse of Lehman Brothers with demand for miners again sparking the rise. Footsie was last this high on 12 September 2008 when it stood at 5,416. The following day Lehman Brothers went bust. London is now the seventh stock market to
Read moreLondon open: Good start for Footsie
29th Dec 2009 08:46
London's top stocks have made a decent start to the week after the extended weekend break, with miners among the top performers. There were good showings elsewhere, with the Nikkei index in Japan hitting a four-month high overnight and the German DAX closing above the 6,000 mark for the first time
Read moreLondon close: Footsie at 15-month high
24th Dec 2009 12:28
Miners pushed London sharply higher in a shortened trading session Thursday, getting the leading index up to 5,400 briefly and to its highest close since September 2008. Silver producer Fresnillo is top of the table on stronger metal prices, with BHP Billiton, Vedanta Resources and Rio Tinto also h
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Miners on the march
23rd Dec 2009 12:27
Miners are among the top risers, including Rio Tinto, which has accepted a $2.025bn offer for its Alcan Packaging pharmaceutical, tobacco and food divisions from the packaging group Amcor as it continues its programme of asset sales to ease its debt pile. Kazakh pair ENRC and Kazakhmys are the top
Read moreOFT drops action on bank charges
22nd Dec 2009 07:09
The Office of Fair Trading has decided to drop its action to curb bank charges after last month's ruling by the Supreme Court in favour of the banks. 'The Supreme Court judgment was not the outcome we had hoped for and was disappointing for many bank customers. Having now considered in detail all t
Read moreStill no debt deal for Dubai World
21st Dec 2009 17:58
Dubai World still hasn't agreed the suspension of repayments on its $22bn debt pile despite putting forward restructuring plans today. The troubled state-owned firm held talks with dozens of banks and said it would reach a deal 'in an orderly way' as Dubai's leaders promised financial support if a
Read moreSunday newspaper round-up: Shell, Goldman Sachs, LSE
20th Dec 2009 11:15
Royal Dutch Shell, the oil giant, has launched a shake-up of its controversial operations in Nigeria by offering oilfields valued at up to $5bn (£3.1bn) for sale. The auction comes as Nigeria prepares to impose harsher terms on foreign operators next month and hand greater control to domestic firms,
Read moreBroker tips: HSBC, Arriva, Clapham House
17th Dec 2009 13:06
Banking giant HSBC's balance sheet strength sets it apart from most of its UK rivals, reckons Nomura Securities, which has reiterated its 'buy' recommendation for the stock. 'With a loans/deposits ratio of c80% and core tier 1 ratio of 9% as at Q3 [third quarter] 2009, HSBC remains balance sheet ad
Read moreBroker snap: Nomura ups HSBC price target
17th Dec 2009 13:05
Banking giant HSBC's balance sheet strength sets it apart from most of its UK rivals, reckons Nomura Securities, which has reiterated its 'buy' recommendation for the stock. 'With a loans/deposits ratio of c80% and core tier 1 ratio of 9% as at Q3 [third quarter] 2009, HSBC remains balance sheet ad
Read moreLondon close: Losses narrow
15th Dec 2009 16:33
Top shares fought back late afternoon to halve losses, but most financial issues stayed lower, while oil plays also ended friendless. Turmoil in the Greek banking sector since credit ratings agency Fitch downgraded the country's sovereign debt last week continued to hurt. Barclays and HSBC were am
Read moreLondon afternoon: Banks continue to weigh
15th Dec 2009 14:51
London is off its worst levels of the day, but remains deep in the red as finance plays suffer on fears about the strength of European peers. Barclays and HSBC are among the worst performers as Greek rivals slump on worries about their country's budget deficit. Reports, later denied, that Austria'
Read moreLondon midday: Footsie drifts back
15th Dec 2009 12:12
Footsie has drifted slightly lower as banks and miners join British Airways among the heaviest fallers. The airline is in focus amid expectations of a 12-day strike over Christmas. BA said it is mulling "all options" to cope with the planned action by cabin crew over the Christmas period. BA is
Read moreSector movers: Transportation stocks buoyant
15th Dec 2009 11:57
One of the most buoyant sectors today is industrial transportation, in spite of a sharp fall in the share price of Interbulk. The container operator saw pre-tax profits in the year to 30 September fall to £3m from £4.6m over the same period the previous year on revenues that slipped to £232.5m fro
Read moreLondon open: Dull start as BA suffers
15th Dec 2009 09:02
London's top stocks have turned lower as investors take a breather following recent gains. British Airways has generated most headlines this morning. The embattled airline is drawing up contingency plans to cope if the planned 12-day strike by cabin crew goes ahead. An injunction is one option, but
Read moreLondon close: Financials lift Footsie
14th Dec 2009 16:58
Footsie began the week with good gains as the day got off to a strong start following news that Abu Dhabi is to bail out its troubled fellow Emirate Dubai. Investors piled into LSE, Standard Chartered and HSBC as the threat of possible huge bad debts recedes. An upgrade by Credit Suisse, which hi
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