London afternoon: Banks face 'tsunami' of pressure

21st Jan 2010 14:44

Leading shares traded sideways over the lunchtime session, albeit with a small dip at 1:30pm when the US market opened a tad lower. Banks and miners are impeding Footsie's progress, with the latter still friendless on concerns about demand from China. Pundits are predicting that the Chinese authori

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London midday: Footsie ahead after mixed morning

21st Jan 2010 12:01

Footsie can't make up its mind this morning and after dropping into the red after miners gave up early gains the index is making good progress again. Xstrata, Rio Tinto, Anglo American, Fresnillo, Kazakhmys and Vedanta Resources remain the main blue chip fallers on concerns about demand from China.

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BSkyB loses latest appeal on ITV stake

21st Jan 2010 10:56

BSkyB has lost its latest appeal over the forced sale of most of its stake in ITV and could now have to cut its holding to below 7.5%. The satellite broadcaster currently owns 17.9% of ITV but was ordered by the Competition Commission to reduce it on the grounds that its sizeable presence on its ri

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ITV at odds with Competition Commission over ad regulation

19th Jan 2010 11:58

Broadcaster ITV criticised a decision by the Competition Commission (CC) not to wholly abolish the current regulatory system for TV advertising. It said the Contract Rights Renewal (CRR) system, which gives advertisers the right to renew contracts with broadcasters without changing the terms, is a

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London close: Footsie flatlines

7th Jan 2010 16:46

A late afternoon rally fizzled out to leave London's blue chip index little changed on the day. Banks emerged from a sticky start as the day's best performers led by Barclays and Lloyds Bank, which both received decent write-ups in an otherwise cautious broker note from Keefe, Bruyette & Woods. It

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London afternoon: Banks defy broker gloom

7th Jan 2010 14:27

Leading shares are mixed, with the Footsie barely changed now miners have recovered from a weak showing in the morning session to show gains in the afternoon. Kazakhmys and Fresnillo lead the mining sector but their gains are surpassed by two stocks from the banking sector where Barclays and Lloyds

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London midday: Bank sits on hands

7th Jan 2010 11:51

London drifted lower ahead of the announcement of the Bank of England's quantitative easing and interest rate decision, which, as expected, left both the level of interest rates and the scale of the quanititative easing programme unchanged. Mining stocks are proving to be a millstone round Footsie'

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London 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

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ITV continues boardroom shuffle

24th Dec 2009 10:00

Two non-executive directors at ITV will resign as the broadcaster continues to shuffle its boardroom ahead of the appointment of Archie Norman as chairman in January. Heather Killen and Agnès Tourain will retire as non executive directors with effect from 31 December 2009. "I am very grateful to H

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Friday newspaper round-up: Independent News, British Airways, Mitchells & Butlers

18th Dec 2009 06:31

Alexander Lebedev, the owner of London's Evening Standard and a former lieutenant-colonel in the KGB, is in advanced talks to buy the The Independent and The Independent on Sunday, according to people familiar with the matter, reports the FT. Lebedev has held intermittent talks over the past year w

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Sunday newspaper round-up: Dubai, Yell, Banks

29th Nov 2009 12:08

Abu Dhabi is this weekend putting together a rescue package for Dubai, its debt-laden Gulf neighbour, in an attempt to restore calm in panicked international markets, according to the Sunday Times. The FT adds that Dubai's government is preparing a campaign to persuade the holders of a bond due for

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Sunday newspaper round-up: ITV, Water companies, Lloyds Banking

22nd Nov 2009 10:45

New ITV chairman Archie Norman is expected to charge millions of viewers to watch all but the broadcaster's main channel, the Mail on Sunday reports. The ending of ITV's days as a free-to-air broadcaster is likely to happen soon after the former Asda boss joins as non-executive chairman in January

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Thursday newspaper round-up: ITN, Queen's speech, L&G

19th Nov 2009 06:16

ITN will reveal its first-ever loss on Thursday as the new chief executive outlines austerity measures aimed at putting the organisation back into the black. John Hardie, who came into the job in June, will tell his 800 journalists and commercial staff that the organisation lost "a significant amoun

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London close: Flat finish for FTSE 100

18th Nov 2009 16:33

There was no shortage of market moving news today, but with stocks moving in both directions, Footsie finished little changed. It was day for high profile board room appointments, with the share prices of Marks & Spencer and ITV both responding well to an end to uncertainty over leadership issues.

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London afternoon: Hershey & Ferrero size up Cadbury

18th Nov 2009 14:05

It has been a day for high profile board room appointments, with the share prices of Marks & Spencer and ITV both responding well to an end to uncertainty over leadership issues. Retailer Marks & Spencer (M&S) has poached Marc Bolland, chief executive of supermarket chain Morrisons, to be its new b

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