London afternoon: Stocks drift lower
23rd Feb 2010 15:16
A weak opening on Wall Street has dragged Footsie lower, though the number of fallers among the blue-chip index's constituents barely outnumbers the risers. Wolseley is leading the risers, after surprising the market with an unscheduled trading update. The building supplies group said it expects p
Read moreLondon midday: Leading shares mixed
23rd Feb 2010 12:13
For the second day in succession the FTSE 100 has turned lower after a moderately bright start. Comments on the fragility of the UK economy from Bank of England governor Mervyn King have given investors pause for thought. King, appearing before a parliamentary committee, said: 'There have been some
Read moreLondon open: Shares start strongly
23rd Feb 2010 08:38
Shares have started strongly as company updates are given a warm reception. Shares in Wolseley jumped after the building supplies group said it expects profits for the year to 31 July 2010 to exceed analysts' expectations of £326m. However, it said the better than expected earnings will be due to
Read moreLondon pre-open: Slight gains expected
23rd Feb 2010 07:36
Footsie is expected to rise slightly despite a lower finish on Wall Street last night. Building supplies group Wolseley said it expects profits for the year to 31 July 2010 to exceed analysts' expectations of £326m. However, it said the better than expected earnings will be due to improvements in c
Read moreLloyds confirms Daniels will waive bonus
23rd Feb 2010 07:24
Lloyds Banking Group has issued a statement confirming that chief executive officer Eric Daniels will waive his right to a bonus for the second year in succession. ‘Mr Daniels has taken this action because he believes that the excellent progress the group is making, based on the considerable contri
Read moreTuesday paper round-up: British Airways, Lloyds Banking, Toyota
23rd Feb 2010 06:28
British Airways crew have voted to strike and could throw the travel plans of hundreds of thousands of passengers' into chaos as early as next week. Union workers at the country's national air carrier voted 81% in favour of industrial action over pay and conditions. As many as 700,000 travellers co
Read moreLloyds Banking boss gives up bonus
22nd Feb 2010 16:52
Eric Daniels, chief executive officer of loss-making lender Lloyds Banking Group, has bowed to public pressure and waived his right to a bonus this year. Daniels, who was instrumental in driving through the disastrous merger with HBOS which saw the traditionally conservative Lloyds become contamina
Read moreLondon close: Footsie slips back
22nd Feb 2010 16:36
Footsie struggled to find any sense of direction on a quiet day's trading, closing slightly in the red. Bunzl showed a healthy rise as the market was encouraged by a strong second half for the group that saw margins improve. Foreign exchange tailwinds enabled the outsourcing and distribution group
Read moreLondon afternoon: RBS heads the field
22nd Feb 2010 14:45
The lunch-time session was a positive one for blue-chip equities despite Wall Street opening modestly lower, with banks and miners leading the advance. Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has usurped Bunzl as the best performer of the day. The part-nationalised lender, like its counterpart Lloyds Banking,
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Avandia concern knocks GlaxoSmithKline
22nd Feb 2010 12:28
GlaxoSmithKline took its second hit in the space of a few days as a US Senate committee suggested its diabetes medicine Avandia may increase the risk of a heart attack. Brokers reckon the main risk to the company is from possible litigation as the report claims that Glaxo knew of possible heart at
Read moreLloyds beefs up board
11th Feb 2010 17:40
Lloyds Banking has appointed two new experienced non-executive directors in Pearson chairman Glen Moreno and former Barclays man David Roberts. The pair, who'll join on 1 March, have already been quizzed by members of the FSA's Significant Influence Function (SIF) panel but still require final FSA
Read moreLloyds sells Esure to founder
11th Feb 2010 16:31
Lloyds Banking has agreed to sell its 70% stake in online insurance group esure to its chairman and founder Peter Wood. Wood, who previously founded Direct Line with Royal Bank of Scotland, set esure up in 2001 in conjunction with bank group HBOS. It merged with Lloyds in 2008 but Wood reportedly s
Read moreLondon afternoon: Footsie falls as miners switch sides
3rd Feb 2010 14:32
Mining stocks headed south over the lunch time session, taking the blue-chip index with them. Antofagasta is the worst performer in the mining sector. The copper miner produced 442,500 tonnes of the red metal in 2009, ahead of its original forecast of 433,000 tonnes but lower than the 477,700 tonne
Read moreLondon midday: Merrills takes a shine to banks
3rd Feb 2010 12:08
Footsie ended the morning at an intra-day high, driven by a strong performance from financial stocks and miners. Standard Life is the top riser after it announced a 'significant increase' in flows and sales in the fourth quarter. Life and pensions net inflows more than tripled to £1.3bn from £0.4bn
Read moreLondon close: US slide drags down Footsie
28th Jan 2010 16:45
London slumped near the close mirroring heavy falls in the US where technology stocks ran into heavy selling seemingly on disappointment with Apple's new iPad. AstraZeneca led the fallers after the Anglo-Swedish pharmaceuticals firm saw fourth quarter earnings rise 10% but warned that its predicted
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