London open: Stocks rise as Merkel backs bond-buying
17th Aug 2012 08:24
- Merkel backs Draghi's pledge to do 'whatever it takes' - Lonmin drops as violence at South African mine escalates - European banks make gains Banking stocks were pulling the Footsie higher on Friday morning as optimism regarding the Eurozone increased with Angela Merkel backing Mario Draghi's bon
Read moreLondon close: Stocks rally on hopes for Spain
16th Aug 2012 16:52
- Spanish aid hopes drive stocks late on - Global economic data comes in mixed - Miners, banks rise in afternoon trade The Footsie rallied in afternoon trade, tracking European markets higher on the back of increased speculation that Spain could be close to requesting some sort of aid to help its a
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Miners rise on stimulus hopes
16th Aug 2012 15:33
The mining sector was broadly higher on Thursday on hopes that potential stimulus measures in China would boost the demand for commodities. Evraz, Kazakhmys, Vedanta and Fresnillo were among the best performers. Banking peers Lloyds and RBS were also making decent gains, despite news that they, al
Read moreLondon midday: Stocks fall despite retail data and stimulus hopes
16th Aug 2012 11:46
- UK retail sales beat estimates in July - Investors eye US data - Chinese stimulus hopes increase After a pretty subdued start, the Footsie had fallen further into the red by Thursday lunchtime in spite of some better-than-expected UK retail sales data. Sales volumes rose by 0.3% during July, up
Read moreLondon midday: Footsie stays lower despite jobless data
15th Aug 2012 11:38
- MPC in wait-and-see mode - UK jobless rates falls more than expected - StanChart, Resolution lead the risers UK equities were stuck in the red by Wednesday lunchtime as minutes from the latest rate-setting meeting at the Bank of England dampened expectations that the Monetary Policy Committee (MP
Read moreBroker snap: Investec downgrades HSBC, sees more upside elsewhere
15th Aug 2012 10:21
Investec has moved its recommendation on banking giant HSBC from 'buy' to 'hold', saying that there is limited upside left in the stock. "Despite recent relative share price underperformance, we would argue that HSBC's shares have held up reasonably well in the context of its broad-based money laun
Read moreLondon open: Tobacco stocks provide a drag early on
15th Aug 2012 08:28
- Greece to ask for more time - Markets await MPC minutes - Tobacco stocks fall on Australian plain packaging issue UK stocks slipped on Wednesday morning on the back of concerns over Greece and ahead of a keenly awaited report on US industrial output; tobacco companies were leading the decline in
Read moreLondon pre-open: Stocks to track losses in Asia
15th Aug 2012 07:26
City sources predict the FTSE 100 will open down 25 points from yesterday's close of 5,865, tracking losses seen overnight in Asia. Investors are also awaiting the release of minutes from the latest policy meeting of the Bank of England, as well as the July employment report from the Office for Na
Read moreLloyds to offload loss-making private equity portfolio
15th Aug 2012 07:01
UK banking group Lloyds is intending to sell its interest in a portfolio of private equity-related investments worth over a billion pounds which made a loss last year. The lender said that it has agreed the sale of the investment, with gross assets of around £1,050m and the transfer of underway com
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Petrofac and the miners provide a drag
13th Aug 2012 15:26
Oilfield services firm Petrofac was leading the fallers on the Footsie on Monday afternoon despite reporting a strong first half as investors turned cautious on the pace of growth going forward Earnings per share were up 32% to 94.8c, with pre-tax profits rising to $412.5m, from $300m the year befo
Read moreBroker snap: StanChart rebound lifts banks higher
8th Aug 2012 16:23
Banking stocks were trading broadly higher on Wednesday as gains for heavyweight lender Standard Chartered were enough to offset weakness in the wider sector, with HSBC, Lloyds, Barclays and RBS trading in the red. Following a massive 16% tumble yesterday, emerging markets-focused bank StanChart wa
Read moreLondon open: Stocks rebound after Draghi disappointment
3rd Aug 2012 08:31
- Stocks rebound after Draghi-fuelled sell-off - Chinese data improves - RBS leads banks higher after first-half results The Footsie rose strongly Friday morning, rebounding after a heavy sell-off the day before, with RBS and the banks providing a lift early on. Stocks sank yesterday after a press
Read moreLondon close: Markets tank as Draghi dampens sentiment
2nd Aug 2012 16:48
- Draghi fails to give markets a boost - BoE maintains rates and QE - RBS leads the downside on one-charges, nationalisation rumours Equity markets across Europe tanked on Thursday afternoon in spite of a positive start, after the European Central Bank (ECB) dashed hopes of immediate action to stem
Read moreTuesday newspaper round-up: BP, Yahoo, Lloyds
31st Jul 2012 07:03
The US Treasury Secretary urged Europe's leaders to follow through on their promises to do "whatever it takes" to save the euro as he embarked on a whirlwind round of diplomacy in Germany. Tim Geithner stoked speculation about a co-ordinated transatlantic push to bolster the single currency as he me
Read moreLondon close: Stocks jump on central bank hopes; IAG surges
30th Jul 2012 17:05
- IAG leads Footsie higher; banks, miners follow suit - ECB expected to act soon - QE3 hopes in the US drive gains UK stocks started the week well as risk appetite increased on hopes that European policy-makers will announce measures this week to stem the crisis and the US central bank will act to
Read more