London close: Footsie ends weakly
19th Nov 2009 16:46
Footsie turned sharply lower at the close after a very poor start on Wall Street with the Dow down by more than 150 points in the first few hours. Miners bore the brunt of the selling with Antofagasta, Anglo American, Xstrata, Randgold Resources, Rio Tinto and Vedanta all lower. Platinum refiner J
Read moreLondon afternoon: Footsie stuck in the red
19th Nov 2009 14:06
Footsie is bumbling along close to its low for the day ahead of what is expected to be a weak start on Wall Street. Futures point to falls of anything between 50-70 points for the Dow when US trading starts, with weak metal prices likely to be a key theme. Here, lower metals have already hit the
Read moreLondon noon: Miners drag Footsie down
19th Nov 2009 12:00
Barely a fifth of the FTSE 100 constituents are in positive territory, but the fall on the blue-chip index is still modest, given the weakness of miners. With metals prices softening, the likes of Antofagasta, Anglo American, Xstrata, Randgold Resources, Rio Tinto and Vedanta are on the slide, as i
Read moreLondon open: Miners lead Footsie lower
19th Nov 2009 08:19
Miners are leading London's top stocks lower in early dealings on Thursday, while investors also have a stream of company updates to consider. Nine out of the ten worst performers are miners. Fresnillo, Xstrata, Antofagasta, Rio Tinto, Anglo American, Vedanta Resources, Eurasian Natural Resources,
Read moreInvestec takes heart from interims
19th Nov 2009 07:57
Profit fell at South African bank Investec during the first half, but was "comfortably" ahead of the second half of last year as assets under management rose almost 29%. Operating profit before tax for the six months ended 30 September slipped to £216m from £241.8m a year ago. Private client activi
Read moreDealings round-up: BlueBay duo cash in
18th Sep 2009 17:26
Two directors of BlueBay today took advantage of the recent tripling in its share price to trim their holdings in the fixed income fund manager. A secondary placing of shares saw Nick Williams, Chief Financial Officer, sell 1m shares and Alex Khein, Chief Operating Officer dispose of 2m shares. Th
Read moreFriday tips round-up: Kingfisher, Kier, Unite
18th Sep 2009 06:45
While Kingfisher's shares are not cheap and trade on a forecast 2010 price-to-earnings ratio of 16.3, they have actually fallen back recently from their peak over the past year. Given that trading in the second half is likely to be kinder in the UK and other markets, compared with last autumn, Kin
Read moreInvestec profits to be marginally down
17th Sep 2009 16:24
South African bank Investec expects first half net operating income to be marginally down. As a result, operating profits will be lower than those reported in the first half of last year but better than the second half. Defaults have continued to increase in line with expectations, with the annua
Read moreCRH director builds a stake
11th Aug 2009 17:01
John Kennedy, a non-executive director at the Irish building materials firm CRH has taken a stake in the firm, buying about €17,400 (£14,850) worth of shares. He paid €17.42 each for 636 shares, €17.40 for 296 shares and €17.43 for 68 shares yesterday. The purchase represents his only holding in t
Read moreL&G non-exec buys
5th Aug 2009 17:01
Legal & General non-executive director Ronaldo Schmitz has bought shares worth nearly £100,000 in the insurer. Schmitz acquired 160,000 shares in five separate transactions at a price range of 62.05p-65.4p each. His holding has now increased to 297,000 shares. Yesterday L&G tumbled after posting a
Read moreLondon close: Footsie ends winning streak
28th Jul 2009 16:33
Footsie looked set to continue its 11-day winning streak but soon started a steady downward slide that saw it close sharply in the red. Software giant Sage led Footsie higher in early dealings, staging a relief rally on results that were in line with market expectations though it warned that market
Read moreLondon afternoon: Slide accelerates
28th Jul 2009 14:19
With wall Street expected to open lower, London moved further into the red over the lunchtime session, leaving the Footsie a sizeable deficit to make up if it is to set a new record for consecutive days of rises. Software giant Sage is doing its bit for Footsie, staging a relief rally on results th
Read moreLondon midday: Miners threaten Footsie streak
28th Jul 2009 12:14
If the Footsie is to rise for a record breaking 12th day in succession it looks like it is going to do so without the assistance of the mining stocks which are in retreat today. Software giant Sage is doing its bit for Footsie, staging a relief rally on results that were in line with market expect
Read moreFTSE 250 movers: Stocks fall after results
28th Jul 2009 09:53
Most updates from the mid-cap index have been poorly received. Imperial Leather soap maker PZ Cussons slips back even though it notched up a better than expected 16% rise in annual pre-tax profit and looks ahead with cautious optimism. Chemical firm Croda spills into the red after it revealed a 14
Read moreLondon open: Footsie on course for record
28th Jul 2009 08:33
All eyes today will be on Footsie and whether it can set a new record of twelve consecutive daily gains. Currently, it is comfortably on course despite some mixed results on another big day for company announcements. Oil giant BP announced second quarter replacement cost profits towards the top e
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