London afternoon: Banks lead the fight back
3rd Jul 2009 14:30
Share prices are creeping higher after yesterday's heavy falls, with banking stocks leading the fight back. Barclays, HSBA and Lloyds Banking lead the banking sector higher while insurers such as Aviva and Legal & General are also wanted. An exception to the general strength of insurers is Friends
Read moreBroker tips: Standard Chartered, Greene King, Game
2nd Jul 2009 13:20
Though it continues to favour fellow Asia-focused bank HSBC, UBS has moved from a negative to a neutral stance on Standard Chartered, and sees the shares becoming becalmed in the near future. UBS has upped its price target from £10 to £11.40, some 50p below Standard Chartered's current share price.
Read moreBroker snap: UBS upgrades Standard but prefers HSBC
2nd Jul 2009 13:05
Though it continues to favour fellow Asia-focused bank HSBC, UBS has moved from a negative to a neutral stance on Standard Chartered, and sees the shares becoming becalmed in the near future. UBS has upped its price target from £10 to £11.40, some 50p below its current share price. The Swiss bank
Read moreLondon close: Late rally not enough
25th Jun 2009 17:01
A late rally by UK equities was not enough to prevent the blue-chip index closing in negative territory, largely as a result of weak miners, which were weighted down by softer metals prices. Lonmin, Vedanta, Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton were all stuck in the red. Elsewhere in the sector, Anglo Americ
Read moreLondon afternoon: Banks and miners retreat
25th Jun 2009 14:27
Leading equities drift lower in the afternoon session, led by banks and miners. Asia-focused bank Standard Chartered eases back, despite enjoying record income and operating profit in the first five months of this year. Some of this success has been offset by weakness in consumer banking, however,
Read moreHSBC buys remaining stake in Indian firm
16th Jun 2009 16:19
Bank HSBC intends to buy the remaining 6.14% stake it does not own in Indian firm Investsmart and delist the shares from Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange of India. During 2008, HSBC acquired 93.86 per cent of IL&FS Investsmart Limited for a total consideration of INR1,396.3 cro
Read moreTechnical Analysis: Banks treading water
12th Jun 2009 11:02
Banks have again been in the spotlight this week with speculation growing about the government's withdrawal from ownership of large stakes of RBS and Lloyds as well as Northern Rock. Further adding to the mix has been Barclay's sale of its fund management arm to BlackRock for £8.1bn, and the upgrad
Read moreLondon close: Banks boost Footsie late
11th Jun 2009 16:33
London rallied strongly late on, helped by gains for banks, which outweighed profit taking among the big mining stocks and weakness among oil users as the price of crude rose again. Speculation is growing about the timing of the government's withdrawal from ownership of large stakes in Royal Bank
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Broker support lifts Invensys
11th Jun 2009 14:59
Invensys is doing better during the recession than Goldman Sachs expected, prompting the broker to its rating on the engineer from 'neutral' to 'buy'. Broker comment also sent banking giant HSBC higher. Swiss outfit Credit Suisse upped the shares to 'outperform' from 'neutral'. There were also gai
Read moreLondon afternoon: Banks in demand
11th Jun 2009 14:47
London is having a languid day, with Footsie lacking direction. Banks are strong but their gains are counterbalanced by losses on mining stocks. Banks are in focus as speculation grows about the timing of the government's withdrawal from ownership of large stakes in Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), L
Read moreLondon close: Footsie finishes flat
9th Jun 2009 17:05
The UK's blue-chip index spent the day flitting above and below last night's closing level so it should have been no surprise when the FTSE 100 closed virtually unchanged. Thomas Cook was the day's best performer after it calmed investors' nerves over the collapse of Arcandor, which has a 52% stake
Read moreLondon afternoon: Thos. Cook soars on bid spec
9th Jun 2009 14:39
It's been a see-saw day for London's leading shares which are now predominantly firmer, after US markets opened moderately higher. Lloyds Banking Group has confirmed press reports that it is to close its Cheltenham & Gloucester branch network in a move that will see 1,000 jobs go. Lloyds also annou
Read moreLondon midday: Defence stocks beat a retreat
9th Jun 2009 12:05
Leading shares are now lower, dragged down by expectations of a weak start on Wall Street and by a trimming of the strong early gains made by miners. Lloyds Banking Group is still in the blue on reports it is to axe a further 1,500 jobs and close the branch network of Cheltenham & Gloucester. Gla
Read moreComment: Lloyds' merger mystery party
5th Jun 2009 17:13
The Lloyds Banking Group AGM on Friday was no party for directors as shareholders took the opportunity to vent their spleen at the company's hasty takeover of the toxic debt receptacle that is HBOS, with one shareholder at the AGM declaring the acquisition a 'disaster'. Many shareholders bought int
Read moreBroker tips: HSBC, Fuller's, SThree
5th Jun 2009 13:26
Attention in the banking sector today is focused on Lloyds Banking Group's AGM, but Swiss bank UBS has been running the rule over HSBC and found cause to reiterate its recommendation to buy the shares. UBS reckons that losses from the bank's ill-advised Household acquisition will be lower than prev
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