London afternoon: Main index little moved
10th Sep 2010 14:39
We're little changed from last night's close as Wall Street opens, with a largely bright financials sector offset by mostly weaker commodity plays. Most banks have done well - Barclays excluded - on hopes that new banking rules announced this weekend will be favourable. Regulators are meeting this
Read moreLondon midday: Footsie flat as mining retreat offsets banks' advance
10th Sep 2010 12:01
On a quiet day on the company news front Footsie is flat, with banks advancing on hopes that new banking rules announced this weekend will be favourable, but miners falling back. Regulators are meeting this weekend to thrash out rules on banks' capital. Royal Bank of Scotland leads the sector on ho
Read moreLondon open: Flat start for Footsie
10th Sep 2010 08:51
London has opened flat with little sign of that changing after a lacklustre first hour. US shares tailed off towards the end of day on Wall Street and that has had some impact. Banks are still going well ahead of the new capital rules to be unveiled by BIS on Monday. Royal Bank of Scotland leads th
Read moreFriday newspaper round-up: Connaught, Vodafone, Deutsche Bank...
10th Sep 2010 06:40
Morgan Sindall will today announce the acquisition of the bulk of Connaught's social housing repairs operations in a deal that will save thousands of jobs across the country. While the deal, believed to be worth between £20m and £40m, will secure the future of about 2,500 jobs, thousands more rema
Read moreLondon close: Banks behind fresh surge
9th Sep 2010 16:38
Investors were back in love with banks Thursday which, coupled with a big session for the miners, pushed the leading index to a new four-month high. The FTSE 100 finished not far off its best levels above 5,500. It was the first tim eit had traded above the big figure since May 4. British lenders
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Banks lead index higher
9th Sep 2010 15:52
Banks are leading the Footsie's rise with Barclays and RBS topping the best performers. Lloyds is also boosted by the sale of its debt holding in housebuilder Crest Nicholson. Miners such as Xstrata and Vedanta are recovering even though metals prices are weak. Chip designer ARM continues to r
Read moreBanks commission small business credit research
6th Sep 2010 17:01
The biggest British banks have commissioned a report that will profile the creditworthiness of their small business customers. The banks hope the report will head off criticism of their lack of lending. The banks argue that they are only turning away the risky proposals but small business organisa
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: TUI continues downward journey
11th Aug 2010 15:39
There are few risers in the Footsie as TUI Travel continues to head the fallers. Package holiday firm Thomas Cook followed up yesterday's disappointing trading statement by TUI with one of its own. Thomas Cook warned that full-year profits will be at the low end of forecasts due to softer UK booki
Read moreBroker tips: Aviva, Lloyds Banking, ITV
9th Aug 2010 12:49
Panmure Gordon is upgrading its earnings forecasts for Aviva after much better than expected interim results from the insurance giant last week. "On a market consistent embedded value (MCEV) operating profit basis we have increased 2010 forecast to £3,886m (+12%) from £3312m (-5%) driven by improve
Read moreBroker snap: Lloyds making progress
9th Aug 2010 10:56
Last week's results from Lloyds Banking Group showed the part-nationalised lender is making progress on all key issues, Nomura Securities believes. "Impairments and the margin/revenue improved more quickly, which should lead to upgrades. The capital and funding positions also improved," Nomura anal
Read moreMonday newspaper round-up: Lloyds, BP, Barley
9th Aug 2010 06:40
The Bank of England has warned Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland that they could face penalties from Brussels if there was an extension of the special funding scheme put in place during the financial crisis. The Bank believes that such an extension could break European Union state aid rules, becaus
Read moreLondon close: Rally falls short
4th Aug 2010 16:50
The FTSE 100 briefly made it into positive territory in the afternoon session but that only lured out more sellers and the blue-chip index closed slightly down on the day. Shares in Next remained in the doghouse all day, not so much because of the performance in the first half of its financial yea
Read moreLondon midday: Stocks start to recover
4th Aug 2010 12:08
Leading share prices have come off the bottom but the FTSE 100 remains in arrears, following mixed news on the corporate front. Shares in Next are sharply lower. The fashion retailer has noticed a 'cooling' in consumers' demand in recent months, but still expects profits this year to rise by betwee
Read moreEuropean midday: Banks largely lower
4th Aug 2010 12:02
Europe's main markets remain in the red in midday dealings as investors consider a mixed bag of results in the banking sector. Quarterly profits at Societe Generale beat analyst forecasts, climbing more than threefold, helped by a good performance of its French retail business. The Paris-based ban
Read moreEuropean open: Banking figures in focus
4th Aug 2010 09:06
European shares slipped early on Wednesday after a number of the region's biggest banks updated the market on their recent performance. Quarterly profits at Societe Generale beat analyst forecasts, climbing more than threefold, helped by a good performance of its French retail business. The Paris
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