National Grid hit by jump in UK debt yields

21st Apr 2016 18:38

(ShareCast News) - Public sector net borrowing in the UK only overshot the Chancellor's target for the full fiscal year modestly, analysts said, but that was enough to push sovereign debt yields higher, knocking the likes of National Grid off their perch. Westminster's net cash requirement fell 34.0

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HSBC looking at share buy-back

18th Apr 2016 12:07

(ShareCast News) - HSBC was reported to be looking at possibly buying back shares on Monday. Chief executive of the Canary Wharf-based group Stuart Gulliver told shareholders in Hong Kong of the idea, as the share price of Europe's largest bank slid sharply. Separately, chairman Douglas Flint said

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Sunday newspaper round-up: AstraZeneca, Monarch Airlines, HSBC, Opec deal

17th Apr 2016 16:53

(ShareCast News) - AstraZeneca has held talks with US-based rival Medivation that could see it make a $10bn (£7bn) takeover bid, where it will battle France's Sanofi, which had a bid rejected last week, and others. Although oncology drug maker Medivation has been criticised for "price gouging" by Am

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Panama Papers: UK regulator reportedly gives banks deadline on reviews

7th Apr 2016 13:38

(ShareCast News) - The UK's Financial Conduct Authority said banks and other financial firms have until next week to carry out urgent reviews of whether they are linked to the law firm at the centre of the Panama Papers data leak, the Financial Times reported. According to a letter seen by the newsp

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HSBC, RBS and Barclays said to plan 400 branch closures this year

6th Apr 2016 14:55

(ShareCast News) - HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays are reportedly set to close 400 UK branches this year. Reuters cited people familiar with the matter as saying that HSBC was set to close the highest number, with about 200 branches this year. That is about a fifth of the bank's UK branche

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Thursday newspaper round-up: Steel industry, energy, HSBC

31st Mar 2016 07:24

(ShareCast News) - Tata's board met for seven hours on Tuesday in the company's elegant stone headquarters in central Mumbai but one insider said it was clear what the company had to do. "It was very straightforward, not dramatic," he said, as Tata signalled that, after nine years, several billion p

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JP Morgan prefers StanChart to HSBC

21st Mar 2016 12:45

(ShareCast News) - Shares in StanChart were offering close twice the value of those in HSBC, JP Morgan said, leading it to recommend them to clients over those in rival HSBC. Ongoing pressure on revenues from global markets and Asian wealth management might create downside risk for the sector, b

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Nomura downgrades StanChart, HSBC, Barclays

18th Mar 2016 12:12

(ShareCast News) - China's economy was set to slow more sharply than most analysts were expecting, leading to a further devaluation of the country's currency, the yuan, which in turn would weigh on the broader emerging market currency space and business for the likes of HSBC and StanChart, Nomura sa

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Tuesday broker round-up

15th Mar 2016 16:46

(ShareCast News) - Virgin Money: Goldman Sachs reiterates neutral with a target price of 450p and Berenberg stays at hold with a 400p target. Gem Diamonds: Panmure Gordon keeps at buy, 181p target and Finncap reiterates buy with a target of 270p. G4S: Credit Suisse reiterates neutral with a target

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CMA extends deadline for retail banking investigation

7th Mar 2016 09:50

(ShareCast News) - The Competition and Markets Authority has decided to extend the deadline for its investigation into the UK retail banking sector, which it believes is not competitive enough. The CMA said the extension to 12 August from May is necessary to allow enough time to take full and proper

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Mastercard said to plan £1bn Vocalink takeover bid

3rd Mar 2016 13:02

(ShareCast News) - US-based credit card issuer Mastercard has reportedly drawn up secret pans for a takeover of international payment systems provider Vocalink. According to Sky News, Mastercard has approached the board of bank-owned Vocalink about a deal that could be worth more than £1bn. More th

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Bernstein downgrades HSBC as it points to unsustainable dividends

29th Feb 2016 14:18

(ShareCast News) - HSBC was in the red after Bernstein downgraded the stock to 'underperform' from 'market perform' and cut the price target to 380p from 550p. It said the bank's "quite dreadful" fourth quarter results were symptomatic of the macro headwinds the global banking system faces this year

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FTSE 100 movers: Miners gain but HSBC slumps on Bernstein note

29th Feb 2016 13:47

(ShareCast News) - London's FTSE 100 index was down 0.3% to 6,075.39 at 1525 GMT, as investors weighed up disappointment that the G20 meeting did not yield a coordinated stimulus effort against the People's Bank of China's move to cut the reserve requirement ratio. HSBC was in the red after Bernstei

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Sunday newspaper round-up: Pound, GSK, Sainsbury's, HSBC

28th Feb 2016 17:29

(ShareCast News) - Sterling will fall to $1.28 by the end of 2016, its lowest level against the US dollar in three decades, currency strategists have cautioned. If Britain votes to leave the European Union the fall will be even worse, the Sunday Telegraph reported that Deutsche Bank analysts saw a f

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Tuesday broker round-up

23rd Feb 2016 13:51

(ShareCast News) - HSBC: JP Morgan reiterates underweight with a target price of 410p and UBS stays at buy, 490p target. Just Eat: Investec reiterates buy with a target price of 435p. Glencore: Exane BNP Paribas keeps at outperform with a target of 145p. Ashmore Group: UBS starts coverage at neutr

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