London midday: Banks fall, Footsie flat
19th Dec 2011 11:50
The Footsie pared gains and was trading flat by midday with banking stocks providing a drag ahead of the government's response to Sir John Vickers' report into banking. The Bank of England's Quarterly Bulletin revealed that 56% of households surveyed reckoned that income available after tax, insura
Read moreMonday newspaper round-up: Eurogroup, South Korea, Lloyds
19th Dec 2011 06:54
Jean Claude Juncker, the head of the Eurogroup, said all 27 European Union finance ministers, including George Osborne, would talk together in the afternoon to approve or reject extending the funds to the IMF as agreed in Brussels by December 19. The loans would be used by the IMF to support struggl
Read moreFTSE 100 Movers: Kazakhmys leads the miners higher
16th Dec 2011 14:14
Kazakhmys leapt into the top spot after investors learnt that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with the China Development Bank Corporation for a $1.5bn loan facility, which is to be used for the development of the major copper project at Aktogay, East Kazakhstan. The facility consists of
Read moreLloyds boss wakes up and buys 0.6m shares
15th Dec 2011 15:45
Announcing his return to work just six short weeks since taking leave on medical advice, Lloyds boss Antonio Horta-Osorio celebrated his recovery with the purchase of $226,962-worth of shares in the part-nationalised lender. The director, who was signed off sick with extreme fatigue and sleep depr
Read moreLloyds' boss to return to daily grind on January 9th
14th Dec 2011 14:12
Shares in part-nationalised lender Lloyds Banking Group rallied on Wednesday afternoon after it was announced that Group Chief Executive António Horta-Osório has been given a clean bill of health to return to his post. A statement from the bank said he will return to the bank as Group Chief Executi
Read moreLondon close: Footsie drops 1.8% on Eurozone worries
12th Dec 2011 16:46
London's Footsie finished at its lowest levels of the day after Wall Street bourses opened sharply in the red. The Eurozone crisis appeared to be weighing heavily on investors' minds (as usual) following some downbeat comments from Moody's. The FTSE 100 finished 1.8% down at 5,428, some 101 points o
Read moreFTSE 100 Movers: Miners drag footsie lower
12th Dec 2011 15:07
Kazakhstan-focused miner, Eurasian Natural Resources (ENRC), hit the bottom spot on reports that it is said to be examining allegations of corruption at a Kazakh iron ore subsidiary - although denied on Sunday that it was the subject of a formal investigation by Britain's Serious Fraud Office (SFO),
Read moreLondon midday: Stocks continue to fall, banks tumble
12th Dec 2011 11:49
The Footsie was trading just below the 5,500 level at midday, with banks and miners providing a drag on London's blue chip index. It seems that markets across Europe have given a lukewarm reaction to the 'fiscal compact' agreed by (some) EU leaders late last week, with indices in Paris, Frankfurt an
Read moreLondon close: Banks provide a boost after summit
9th Dec 2011 16:45
The EU summit has of course dominated markets today and investors have taken the news reasonably well, with benchmark indices across Europe finishing between 2-3% higher after Eurozone nations (and some others) reached an agreement on enhancing fiscal discipline and strengthening economic policy coo
Read moreFTSE 100 Movers: Banks and miners head north
9th Dec 2011 14:44
The banks - Lloyds, RBS and Barclays - took the top spots, rising around 3% each, as markets digest last night's developments from the EU summit. Mining peers Fresnillo, ENRC, Kazakhmys, Xstrata and Antofagasta were also making gains. EU leaders have failed in a bid to make changes to the treatie
Read moreLondon midday: Footsie extends gains, banks jump
9th Dec 2011 12:02
A strong performance by the banks and the miners lifted the FTSE 100 into positive territory by lunchtime, despite a fall early on, as markets digest last night's developments from the EU summit. Bourses across the Eurozone were all in the blue ahead of the conclusion of the meeting this afternoon.
Read moreLloyds boss has to 'reapply for own job'
9th Dec 2011 09:05
Lloyds Banking Group boss Antonio Horta-Osorio is ready to return to work, but will have to effectively reapply for his own job, according to media reports. Chief executive António Horta-Osório went on stress-induced medical leave in early November. Reports say the board of the bank will meet next
Read moreLondon open: Stocks flat, trading cautious after summit
9th Dec 2011 08:29
It was a flat start for the Footsie as investors digested the details coming from last night's pivotal summit, in which leaders failed to make sweeping changes to treaties which govern all 27 members of the European Union. EU SUMMIT DISAPPOINTS Britain blocked an agreement that would apply to all
Read moreFriday newspaper round-up: Cameron, Lloyds, LSE
9th Dec 2011 07:20
Natural gas will eclipse coal as the world's second-biggest source of energy in just over ten years, according to ExxonMobil's latest annual survey. Global demand for natural gas will soar by 60% between now and 2040, a rate of growth that will see it steal the number two spot from coal in 2025, the
Read moreLondon close: Stocks plummet after ECB
8th Dec 2011 16:43
The Footsie took a tumble in the afternoon as initial optimism following the European Central Bank (ECB) decision to cut rates quickly faded after a press conference with its president Mario Draghi. In the last two-or-so hours of trade, London's blue chip index dropped more than 100 points from its
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