Bodycote CEO ditches chunk of shares
8th May 2012 16:16
Stephen Harris, who has held the role of Chief Executive Officer at FTSE 250 heat treatment firm Bodycote for over three years, sliced off a sizeable chunk of his shares on May 4th. Harris, who has also been a director of Spectris, ditched 94,000 shares at 421.00p each, earning himself the handsom
Read moreLondon close: Stocks tank after US payrolls disappointment
4th May 2012 17:00
- US payrolls data sinks global markets - Eurozone services PMI revised lower - Miners lead fallers in London, RBS erases gains The early sell-off for the FTSE 100 accelerated in afternoon trade after the increase in US payrolls came in well below expectations fuelling a sell-off in global stock ma
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: RBS flying high on results update
4th May 2012 14:14
Nationalised lender Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) was a high riser after its first-quarter results. The group is to repay the final tranche of notes issued under the government's Credit Guarantee Scheme (CGS) next week, after posting a profit of more than a billion pounds in the first three months of
Read moreLondon midday: Stocks lower before US non-farm payrolls
4th May 2012 12:10
- Miners drop on macro concerns, Australian growth - RBS rises after Q1 update - Markets await US non-farm payrolls The Footsie was firmly lower by Friday lunchtime as a sell-off in the mining sector outweighed a strong performance by the banks after some well-received results from Royal Bank of Sc
Read moreBroker snap: Operating environment still tough for RBS, says Nomura
4th May 2012 10:13
Nomura has maintained its reduce rating and 26p target price for part-nationalised lender Royal Bank of Scotland, but acknowledges that the first-quarter results were in line and 'modestly better than Lloyds'. Group operating pre-tax profit came in at £1,184m, in line with Nomura's £1,185m assumpti
Read moreFriday broker round-up
4th May 2012 09:21
AstraZeneca: UBS raises target from 3,400p to 3,500p, buy rating unchanged. BG Group: Nomura cuts target from 1,950p to 1,850p, buy rating kept. British Land: Jefferies upgrades British Land from hold to buy, targetupped from 517p to 543p. Dairy Crest: Jefferies initiates coverage with a buy reco
Read moreLondon midday: Investors eye ECB decision as stocks edge higher
3rd May 2012 12:08
- Investors await ECB decision - Successful bond auctions in France, Spain - Mixed reception to barrage of corporate updates The Footsie had traded within a narrow range in morning trade after a strong start ahead of a closely watch interest rate decision from the European Central Bank (ECB) due th
Read moreLondon close: Footsie drops one per cent after gloomy data
2nd May 2012 16:38
- US ADP data well below expectations - Eurozone manufacturing, employment figures weigh on sentiment - Banks, miners among worst performers in London The Footsie finished close to its lowest levels of the day on Wednesday, nearly erasing its impressive rise the day before, as some worse-than-expec
Read moreSector movers: Banking stocks dive, StanChart disappoints with trading update
2nd May 2012 16:18
UK banks were firmly out of favour on Wednesday afternoon, following a strong rise the day before, as the London market suffered a sell-off on the back of some gloomy economic data from the Eurozone and the US. Eurozone manufacturing took a hammering in April with Markit's purchasing managers' inde
Read moreLloyds to reduce share of mortgage market
2nd May 2012 14:57
Shares in UK financial giant Lloyds Banking Group, which is 41 per cent-owned by the UK tax payer, took a hit following reports that the company is about to slash its share of the UK mortgage market by three percentage points. The plans, which would see the bank's share reduced to 25%, are said to
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Next in pole position on sales rise
2nd May 2012 14:19
Fashion chain Next rose into the top spot after sticking with full-year guidance given in March after first quarter sales showed a small year-on-year improvement, helped by contributions from new stores. Broadcaster and broadband group BSkyB was also making gains after reporting record nine-month
Read moreLondon midday: Eurozone data dampens sentiment
2nd May 2012 11:42
- Eurozone jobless rate matches 1997-high - Eurozone manufacturing takes a hammering - Banks among the fallers, StanChart falls after first-quarter update London's blue chips slumped on Wednesday morning while most other major European markets traded moderately higher as they reacted to yesterday's
Read moreLondon open: Banks, ex-div stocks weigh on FTSE 100
2nd May 2012 08:43
- HSBC Chinese PMI improves but still below 50 - Standard Chartered falls after first-quarter update - BSkB leads risers after 'fit and proper' defence Following a strong rise for UK stocks yesterday when European markets were closed for May Day, the FTSE 100 opened lower on Wednesday morning. Lon
Read moreWednesday newspaper round-up: BSkyB, Drax, Bolivia
2nd May 2012 07:08
Shares in Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation and BSkyB rose on Tuesday as experts warned he may have to sever all ties with the satellite broadcasting business he founded. News Corp could be forced to sell off its entire 39pc stake in BSkyB, or watch the £12bn pay-to-view company lose its valuable li
Read moreLondon close: US manufacturing data fuels late surge
1st May 2012 16:38
- US data offsets disappointing figures from China, UK - Lloyds leads banks higher, Man Group tumbles - Chemring gains 20pc after contract win With markets cautious early on after some disappointing manufacturing data from China and the UK, an upwards surprise in manufacturing figures Stateside gav
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