London 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
Read moreLondon midday: Stocks higher as UK unemployment falls, M&A activity in focus
12th Jun 2013 12:04
M&A activity was the theme of the day in London on Wednesday as heavyweight stocks British Sky Broadcasting, Severn Trent and Vodafone grabbed the headlines. Nevertheless, after a choppy start, the FTSE 100 managed to register moderate gains by lunchtime. Helping sentiment this morning was UK unemp
Read moreMonday broker round-up UPDATE
10th Jun 2013 07:34
ASOS: HSBC Holdings increases target price from 3660p to 4380p and keeps an overweight rating. Bellway: Deutsche Bank raises target price from 1482p to 1503p and reiterates a hold recommendation. Betfair Group: Citi ups target price from 880p to 950p, upgrading from neutral to buy. Capco: UBS inc
Read moreLondon close: Markets surge as US data eases 'tapering' fears
7th Jun 2013 17:23
An in-line increase in US non-farm payrolls sparked an impressive surge on equity markets worldwide on Friday afternoon, as worries about the Federal Reserve scaling back its stimulus measures eased, for now at least. London's FTSE 100 finished up 76 points on the day (+1.2%) at 6,412. Nevertheless
Read moreJohnson Matthey CEO sells shares post-exercise
7th Jun 2013 16:11
Neil Carson, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of chemicals group Johnson Matthey, exercised share options and sold them immediately afterwards on the same day the company impressed the market with its full-year results. Carson, who joined the company back in 1980 and became CEO in 2004, exercised
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Severn Trent jumps after LongRiver ups offer
7th Jun 2013 15:33
Severn Trent surged this afternoon after the LongRiver consortium upped its cash offer for the water provider following the rejection of an earlier proposal by the group earlier this week. The consortium has offered 2,200p per Severn Trent share, including the 45.51p dividend announced in May, whi
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