Broker tips: Next, Cape, UK banks
16th Sep 2009 12:46
KBC Peel Hunt is contemplating upgrading its target price, earnings forecasts and rating for Next after the fashion retailer's impressive interim results on Wednesday morning. The broker expects consensus forecasts for full year pre-tax profit are likely to rise as a result of the half-year update,
Read moreBroker snap: Book profits on banks, Nomura says
16th Sep 2009 11:55
Broker Nomura Securities has warned that shareholders in UK banks should be wary of the potential for a reversal in the sector and advises banking profits. 'The domestic UK banks have rebounded to valuations of 1.4x book value, with the Far Eastern banks on 2.2x. Consequently, we advocate booking s
Read moreWednesday newspaper round-up: Orange/T-Mobile, Cadbury, Burberry
9th Sep 2009 06:09
The planned merger of Orange and T-Mobile faces an uphill battle to convince competition authorities that the creation of Britain's biggest mobile phone company should be allowed to proceed. Independent competition lawyers questioned whether a super operator with 29.1m customers and a 39% revenue s
Read moreSunday newspaper round-up: Lloyds, Betfair, Johnston Press
23rd Aug 2009 12:35
Sir Win Bischoff, the incoming chairman of Lloyds Banking Group, is facing pressure to clear out the boardroom. Investors are telling him to beef up the banking experience on the board in the wake of its catastrophic takeover of HBOS, which has already claimed the scalp of outgoing chairman Sir Vict
Read moreLondon close: Stocks in late surge
18th Aug 2009 16:36
A late rally driven by early gains in the US had London back up at session highs, with gains among financial plays easily offsetting a weaker property sector. Investors overcame disappointing US housing starts data that had the blue chip index struggling at session lows mid-afternoon. The annual ra
Read moreLondon afternoon: Gains pegged after US housing data
18th Aug 2009 14:37
Disappointing US housing starts data took the wind out of London's sales over the lunchtime session, though the blue-chip FTSE 100 index remains in the blue. Housing starts are seen as one of the vital signs of the US economy and July's figures disappointed, with the annualised number of housing sta
Read moreBroker tips: HSBC, British Land, Glaxo
18th Aug 2009 12:55
Global banking giant HSBC is in pole position among banks to benefit from the global economic recovery when it picks up steam, Goldman Sachs believes. Goldman Sachs (GS) said that with the chapter now closed on HSBC's ill-fated acquisition of US sub-prime lender Household, its HSBC Finance division
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Miners lift blue chips
18th Aug 2009 12:51
Once again mining stocks are in the driving seat but today they are driving the Footsie north, with many stocks recovering some of yesterday's heavy losses. Xstrata, ENRC, Kazakhmys and Antofagasta are the picks of the mining sector, along with cash strapped Rio Tinto, which has received a $2.025b
Read moreBroker snap: HSBC in pole position
18th Aug 2009 12:34
Global banking giant HSBC is in pole position among banks to benefit from the global economic recovery when it picks up steam, Goldman Sachs believes. Goldman Sachs said that with the chapter now closed on its ill-fated acquisition of US sub-prime lender Household, its HSBC Finance division should
Read moreLondon close: Footsie ends week on a high
7th Aug 2009 16:16
Some better-than-expected jobs data hauled Footsie into the blue Friday afternoon, ensuring the leading share index continued its rally. The Labor Department said 247,000 jobs disappeared in July, far less than the 320,000 predicted by analysts and almost half the 467,000 reported in June. RBS rem
Read moreLondon afternoon: Footsie higher as US data lifts sentiment
7th Aug 2009 14:15
Wall Street has come to the rescue with better-than-expected unemployment report lifting sentiment in London as well. US futures are now expected to start up after the Labor Department revealed data that showed job losses slowing in July to 247,000 against expectations of a fall to 320,000 and agai
Read moreLondon midday: RBS ends banks good run
7th Aug 2009 12:26
Footsie is having a tough morning with banks running into profit taking after Royal Bank of Scotland issued what it describes as a 'poor' set of numbers. RBS made a £15m profit, but bad debts rocketed to £7.5bn and it warned results may not "substantially" improve until 2011. Losses attributable t
Read moreLondon open: Banks on back foot
7th Aug 2009 08:40
London got off to a weak start following last night's losses in the US and as investors tread carefully ahead of this afternoon's US non-farm payrolls. Banks are struggling after RBS published its half-year numbers. It made a £15m profit, but bad debts rocketed to £7.5bn and it warned results may
Read moreSector movers: Banks dominate
6th Aug 2009 13:29
This week's well-received results from Lloyds, Barclays and HSBC continue to keep buyers active. All three are sharply higher Thursday, sending Banks to the top of the tree. Royal Bank of Scotland is also better ahead of tomorrow's interim results. Unilever has given Food Producers & Processors a
Read moreLondon close: Footsie ends at 10-month high
3rd Aug 2009 16:16
Blue chips closed at their highest since early October as investors piled into heavyweight miners and the big banks, although the index failed to hold above 4,700. Oil services specialist Petrofac was in pole position after UBS upgraded the shares to 'buy' and its target price to £10. Crude prices
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