London midday: Markets cautious ahead of risk events, Syria action
4th Sep 2013 11:26
Traders adopted a cautious approach on Wednesday morning with UK stocks registering losses in morning trade ahead of a number of 'risk events' later in the week which have the potential to spark market volatility. Fears about impending US military action in Syria also hit investor sentiment today a
Read moreWednesday broker round-up UPDATE
4th Sep 2013 08:50
Abbey Protection: Numis lowers target price from 120p to 110p keeping a hold recommendation. Antofagasta: Investec takes target price from 707p to 725p, but still recommends selling. Ashtead Group: Numis ups target price from 640p to 670p and retains a hold recommendation. Panmure Gordon increases
Read moreSector movers: Synthomer lifts chemical stocks higher
13th Aug 2013 15:10
The chemicals sector was the best performing sector on Tuesday with results from FTSE 250 firm Synthomer Synthomer, the materials group involved in a number of industries including paper, construction and health, received a positive reaction to its first-half report today despite registering a fall
Read moreLondon close: Markets fall but Shire leads late rally
25th Jul 2013 17:08
Markets closer firmly in negative territory on Thursday after corporate earnings came in mixed, but the FTSE 100 finished well off its intraday lows following a surge from Shire and upbeat economic data in the States. London's benchmark index finished 32 points lower at 6,588. Investors gave a pre
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Corporate earnings spark mixed reaction
25th Jul 2013 14:09
Mixed reactions to corporate earnings provided some sharp swings in share prices both ways on Thursday, with Rolls-Royce, Shire and Reed Elsevier rising strongly and Capita, Unilever, BT Group and Johnson Matthey falling into the red. Rolls-Royce Holdings jumped after reporting a 34% jump in pre-t
Read moreLondon midday: Markets shrug off UK growth as earnings disappoint
25th Jul 2013 12:07
An expected pick-up in UK economic growth in the second quarter wasn't enough to lift London's FTSE 100 into positive territory on Thursday morning as markets reacted to a series of disappointing results from a number of blue-chip firms. Capita, BT Group, Unilever and Johnson Matthey were all tradi
Read moreLondon open: Markets fall ahead of busy day for economic data
25th Jul 2013 08:29
Markets opened lower on Thursday morning as investors digested a raft of economic data and looked ahead to a series of key economic indicators due for release later on. The IFO survey on the business climate in Germany during July is due out this morning, along with the first estimate of second-qua
Read moreJohnson Matthey reports first quarter sales growth
25th Jul 2013 07:41
British chemicals and precious metals company Johnson Matthey said profits grew in the first quarter as sales across all businesses rose. Sales, excluding precious metals, were up 13% to £745m with growth across all of the divisions. Operating profit climbed 10% to £116.1m while underlying pre-tax
Read moreLondon close: Stocks rally after Bernanke comments on QE
17th Jul 2013 16:58
Markets rallied on Wednesday afternoon following comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke who said that quantitative easing (QE) is 'by no means on a pre-set course' and still depends on how the economic recovery plays out. "For markets, that's good news as the US economic recovery, thou
Read moreLondon midday: Unanimous MPC vote on QE takes markets by surprise
17th Jul 2013 11:53
Minutes from this month's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting took markets by surprise on Wednesday morning, with the FTSE 100 slipping into the red after it was revealed that policymakers voted unanimously to leave the Bank of England's (BoE) bond-buying programme unchanged. Investors were lar
Read moreLondon open: Miners, financials gain ahead of BoE minutes
17th Jul 2013 08:30
Markets edged higher on Wednesday morning with strong gains in the mining and financial sectors providing a lift ahead of key announcements from central banks in the UK and US. The minutes of the latest Bank of England policy meeting are due out this morning with investors waiting to hear what Mark
Read moreFriday broker round-up UPDATE
5th Jul 2013 08:09
African Barrick Gold: Nomura lowers target price from 200p to 155p, while upgrading from reduce to buy. Barclays: Bank of America reduces target price from 410p to 370p, while leaving its buy recommendation unchanged. BHP Billiton: Investec ups target price from 1919p to 1926p maintaining a buy re
Read moreTuesday broker round-up UPDATE
18th Jun 2013 08:19
Alternative Networks: Westhouse Securities upgrades from neutral to add with a target price of 350p. Andes Energia: Westhouse Securities initiates with a target price of 60p and a buy recommendation. Andor Technology: Investec reduces target price from 525p to 360p downgrading from buy to hold. A
Read moreLondon close: Greece rumours spark late sell-off
12th Jun 2013 17:02
Equities dropped into the red for a third consecutive day on Wednesday with renewed political tension in Greece sparked another bout of market volatility. The FTSE 100 finished down 41 points at 6,299, the first time that it has closed below the 6,300 mark since April 22nd. London's benchmark inde
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Severn Trent and Vodafone drop sharply
12th Jun 2013 15:05
Water group Severn Trent dropped sharply on Wednesday after the consortium of foreign investors that had bid for the company withdrew its offer last night. LongRiver, after having had its earlier proposals rejected by Severn Trent, said that it would not put forward a further offer "in the absence o
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