FTSE 100 movers: Miners among the wounded
28th Oct 2009 15:37
The list of blue chip fallers is littered with miners as the dollar's ongoing recovery sends commodity prices lower. Xstrata, Lonmin, Kazakhmys and Rio Tinto are nursing losses, while a fall in oil prices towards $78 a barrel has hurt Petrofac, BP and Shell. Insurer Prudential fell as a 22% dive i
Read moreLondon afternoon: Stocks steady at lower levels
28th Oct 2009 14:10
Miners and financials remain a dead weight around Footsie's neck, but elsewhere, leading shares are slowly beginning to claw back losses. Prudential, which saw a surge in US business but posted a fall in UK sales, is still among the heaviest fallers. The Pru lifted group-wide retail sales by 10% to
Read moreSector movers: Pru drags insurance sector lower
28th Oct 2009 13:30
Life insurance stocks fall back after a dive in UK business sent Prudential's group insurance sales down 9% during the third quarter. The Pru reported insurance sales of £700m for the three months ended 30 September, with nine-month sales also dropping 9% to £2.02bn. UK retail sales slumped 22% to
Read moreLegal & General finance chief invests £670,000
19th Oct 2009 16:00
Legal & General's new chief financial officer Dr Nigel Wilson has bought £670,000 worth of shares less than seven weeks after joining the board of the insurer. Dr Wilson tookup his appointment on 1 September 2009. He did not own any shares at the time. Dr Wilson bought 760,948 shares at 88p each o
Read moreLondon close: Retailers weigh on Footsie
13th Oct 2009 16:46
A poor performance from US shares dragged Footsie into the red and the leading index finished the day with substantial losses. Retailers were out of sorts despite some moderately optimistic news from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) concerning retail sales. The BRC said annual retail sales growt
Read moreLondon afternoon: Retailers sag after sales data
13th Oct 2009 14:26
Leading shares remain mixed, with the Footsie easing back into the red over the lunchtime session. Retailers are out of sorts despite some moderately optimistic news from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) concerning retail sales. The BRC said annual retail sales growth in September accelerated to
Read moreLondon midday: Looking for direction
13th Oct 2009 12:14
The Footsie has crawled into positive territory, helped by miners recovering from their weak opening. Kazakhmys is the pick of the sector after revealing it is in talks with the China Development Bank and JSC Sovereign Wealth Fund Samruk-Kazyna regarding a potential corporate loan facility of aroun
Read moreLondon close: Best finish in 12½ months
12th Oct 2009 16:48
UK share prices finished at their best levels in over a year Monday and, despite a few sellers appearing late on, the FTSE 100 ended the session above 5,200. Insurers Old Mutual, Standard Life and Legal & General were in demand all day. Rising stock markets are always good news for their investment
Read moreLondon afternoon: Banks' balance sheet issues resurface
12th Oct 2009 14:23
The Footsie crashed through the 5200 barrier this morning to rise to a one-year high and although prices came off the top over the lunch-time session, the vast majority of blue-chips are still in the blue. The upward trend in global equity markets is good news for the insurers and their investment
Read moreLondon close: Stocks finish down
2nd Oct 2009 16:33
London's leading shares closed in the red but were off earlier lows as the US recovered somewhat after a poor start. A weaker than expected jobs report had pushed US stocks deep in the red, though by midday the markets had retraced some of the losses. Over here, there was good news for home owners
Read moreLondon afternoon: US jobs data sinks Footsie
2nd Oct 2009 14:05
Footsie has tumbled further below the 5,000 level after a disappointing read on the monthly US jobs numbers. US non-farm payrolls fell a worse than expected 263,000 in September, up from a downwardly revised 201,000 the month before, and compared with the 180,000 expected by economists. The unemp
Read moreLondon midday: Equities nervously lower
2nd Oct 2009 12:05
The Footsie dipped below the 5,000 level this morning as it followed Wall Street lower in the wake of patchy US economic data yesterday. Over here, there was good news for home owners as UK house prices rose for the fifth month in a row in September, according to the Nationwide Building Society. Th
Read moreBroker tips: Insurers, Misys, Domino's Pizza
1st Oct 2009 12:53
The life assurance sector has recovered strongly from its first quarter lows but there is still plenty of juice left in the major players, Panmure Gordon reckons. The broker has increased its target prices for five insurers: Prudential (to 732p from 585p), Standard Life (234p from 212p), St. James'
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Tough day for Footsie
1st Oct 2009 11:30
Blue chips had a tough day with the index turning down sharply after US initial dole claims figures came in worse than expected. Miners led the way lower on concerns that the US economy is not recovering as expected. Lonmin, Xstrata and Anglo American all fell sharply. Vedanta was the exception on
Read moreBroker snap: Insurance consolidation 'inevitable'
1st Oct 2009 11:16
The life assurance sector has recovered strongly from its first quarter lows but there is still plenty of juice left in the major players, Panmure Gordon reckons. The broker has increased its target prices for five insurers: Prudential (to 732p from 585p), Standard Life (234p from 212p), St. James'
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