Lloyds injects €80m into Spanish subsidiary
16th Jan 2012 09:55
British banking giant Lloyds has injected €80m into its Spanish subsidiary in order to strengthen its solvency, reports Spanish daily Cinco Dias. The measure will increase capital from €131m to €211m. The newspaper also reports that the firm will close 2011 with a core capital ratio of more than
Read moreLondon open: Footsie slips after S&P move, Carnival drops
16th Jan 2012 08:17
The Footsie slipped 0.2% in the opening minutes, following Friday's move by S&P to downgrade nine Eurozone nations. Meanwhile, cruise ship operator Carnival saw shares drop early on after releasing a statement relating to the grounding of a luxury liner off the Italian coast. Standard & Poor's (S&P
Read moreLondon close: French downgrade rumours sink Footsie
13th Jan 2012 16:34
Markets turned south in afternoon trade on rumours of imminent action by ratings agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) to downgrade the ratings of several Eurozone countries. A senior Eurozone government official has been cited as saying that both France and Austria could have their ratings downgraded by
Read moreFTSE 100 Movers: RBS in top spot for a second day running
13th Jan 2012 12:44
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) led the way higher on Friday morning, extending gains from yesterday, when the shares bounced after the lender revealed a massive shake-up to its investment banking and wholesale businesses, including a mass job cull of 3,500. Seymour Pierce fuelled gains after upgrading
Read moreLloyds chief executive to waive 2011 bonus
13th Jan 2012 12:12
The chief executive of Lloyds, Antonio Horta-Osório, will waive his 2011 bonus, after his recent return from a leave of absence and as pressure mounts on banks over large pay packets, The Wall Street Journal is reporting. As of 12:11pm shares of Lloyds are rising by 2.83% to the 29.98p mark. AB
Read moreLondon midday: Gains trimmed as US futures fall
13th Jan 2012 12:03
The Footsie's earlier gains were pared by lunchtime as US stock futures slipped ahead of key earnings report from JP Morgan Chase & Co and the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index. Italy issued €4.75bn in medium-term debt, the top of its €3-4.75bn target range. The borrowing costs of Ju
Read moreLondon open: Banks lead the rise but Invensys plummets
13th Jan 2012 08:30
Banks were leading the way on Friday with Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) topping the charts, lifting the Footsie above the 5,700 level. Hopes that the sovereign debt crisis in Europe is easing lifted the mood on the markets, with investors looking ahead to a key Italian debt auction later today. Just
Read moreLondon close: Stocks erase gains, Tesco falls 16%
12th Jan 2012 16:24
Gains were pared in afternoon trade on Thursday following a poor start on Wall Street, meaning that the FTSE 100 finished in the red for the second day in a row. It was a busy day on the corporate news front, with Tesco and RBS grabbing the headlines, while central banks did what was expected and ke
Read moreFTSE 100 Movers: Tesco on the bottom shelf
12th Jan 2012 14:24
Tesco's Christmas trading statement plunged the UK's leading supermarket chain into the bottom spot after reporting that its sales performance in the home market fell below expectations, prompting the company to advise full-year trading profit growth will be around the low end of the range of analys
Read moreLondon midday: Banks rise, retailers drop, BoE maintains rate
12th Jan 2012 11:58
After a subdued start, the Footsie seems to have found its direction, trading up near the 5,700 level, helped by the latest Italian and Spanish debt auctions which saw solid demand and a fall in yields. Italy has sold a total of €12bn in bills, with yields on its 12-month debt falling to 2.74% from
Read moreThursday broker round-up - UPDATE
12th Jan 2012 09:08
Reckitt Benckiser: J.P. Morgan Cazenove downgrades to neutral from overweight. Tesco: Nomura reiterates buy rating and 500p target; Panmure Gordon cuts target from 500p to 440p, buy rating unchanged. Royal Bank of Scotland: Shore Capital reiterates sell. Tesco: Shore Capital downgrades to hold fr
Read moreLondon open: RBS rises after shake-up, Tesco plummets
12th Jan 2012 08:28
A sharp fall for the retailers was met with a strong showing by the banks this morning, equating to a flat start for the FTSE 100. It has been reasonably busy on the corporate front, with several firms providing trading statements, but RBS and Tesco dominated the headlines early on. MARKETS CELEBRA
Read moreLondon close: Euro worries pull Footsie lower
11th Jan 2012 16:58
Eurozone debt worries weighed on London's stock market today with some disappointing economic data from the region's largest economy dampening the mood. Energy stocks led the decline on the FTSE 100, tracking oil prices lower. SOVEREIGN DEBT CRISIS RUMBLES ON News that German gross domestic produc
Read moreLondon midday: Stocks retreat, Unilever drops after downgrade
11th Jan 2012 11:49
After trading within a narrow 20-point range for most of the morning, it seems if the Footsie has found its direction, dropping around 40 points by midday, with Eurozone concerns once again in the spotlight. Euro-area gross domestic product growth slowed to 0.1% quarter-on-quarter in the third quar
Read moreLondon close: Footsie closes up 1.5% on mining surge
10th Jan 2012 16:53
The Footsie closed near its highest levels of the day at 5,697, breaking through the 5,700 mark briefly in late afternoon trade. Upbeat economic data from China along with news that Fitch doesn't intend to downgrade France this year lifted the mood across Europe today with benchmark indices across t
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