London pre-open: Stocks seen lower as investors digest Fed and BoJ
28th Apr 2016 07:26
(ShareCast News) - London stocks were expected to open a little lower on Thursday as investors digested the latest policy announcements from the Federal Reserve and Bank of Japan. The FTSE 100 was seen starting 20 points lower than Wednesday's close at 6,300. The Fed chose to stand pat on interest
Read moreLloyds Banking's first-quarter profits sink but beat forecasts
28th Apr 2016 07:04
(ShareCast News) - First-quarter results from Lloyds Banking Group revealed a 6% fall in underlying profit to £2.05bn due to the sale of TSB, but this was largely better than forecast as a reduction in impairment charges, PPI provisions and lower costs counterbalanced a small decline in income. A st
Read moreThursday preview: Lloyds reports first quarter interims
27th Apr 2016 12:57
(ShareCast News) - Lloyds Banking Group will be in focus on Thursday as it reports its first quarter interims following results from fellow lenders Barclays and Standard Chartered this week. Deutsche Bank (DB) has pencilled in underlying pre-tax profits of £2.07bn for the first three months of the 2
Read moreSector movers: Banks and homebuilders lead gains
26th Apr 2016 15:19
(ShareCast News) - Banks and real estate and property stocks rode to the top of the leaderboard on the heels of well-received quarterly earnings from StanChart and a perception that Brexit risks were fading, although analysts and market commentary were cautious on both counts. For the first quarter
Read moreHSBC adds Lloyds to 'Europe Super 10' list
25th Apr 2016 15:31
(ShareCast News) - HSBC added Lloyds to its 'Europe Super 10' list on Monday, as it removed Credit Agricole. It said Lloyds, which it rates at 'buy' with an 80p price target, has an attractive and progressive dividend yield helped by the exceptional returns generated by the group on risk assets. As
Read moreFriday broker round-up
22nd Apr 2016 15:08
(ShareCast News) - Acacia Mining: Jefferies reiterates buy with a 390p target and Citigroup stays at neutral with a target price of 340p. ITV: UBS stays at sell with a 230p target. Easyjet: Credit Suisse keeps at outperform with a target price of 2137p. Lloyds: Deutsche Bank keeps at buy with a t
Read moreLloyds looking at deeper job cuts or new strategic review, reports say
22nd Apr 2016 08:29
(ShareCast News) - Lloyds Banking Group may make more than its planned 9,000 job cuts before the end of 2017, according to reports, with management pondering a new strategic review of the business. The FTSE 100 lender's directors are mulling axing further staff in order to cut back the cost base clo
Read moreNational Grid hit by jump in UK debt yields
21st Apr 2016 18:38
(ShareCast News) - Public sector net borrowing in the UK only overshot the Chancellor's target for the full fiscal year modestly, analysts said, but that was enough to push sovereign debt yields higher, knocking the likes of National Grid off their perch. Westminster's net cash requirement fell 34.0
Read moreTuesday newspaper round-up: Negative rates, Sorrell, Tata Steel
19th Apr 2016 07:20
(ShareCast News) - Investors looking for income may have to give up on UK equity funds. A spate of FTSE dividend cuts has prompted an industry-wide debate about how the term "income fund" should be defined. Some of the most popular products selected by retail investors, income funds have attracted b
Read moreTime to buy European banks, says SocGen
14th Apr 2016 10:09
(ShareCast News) - Societe Generale turned bullish on European banks in its latest Europe Equity Compass, saying it was time to buy as deflation fears recede. The bank noted fear of deflation was back to an all-time high - even higher than after the Lehman collapse - with a plunge in oil prices and
Read moreLloyds speaks to advisers about potential insurance M&A, reports say
7th Apr 2016 12:46
(ShareCast News) - Lloyds Banking Group is planning to expand its insurance brand Scottish Widows via several acquisitions, according to reports. The lender has spoken to several City of London firms about potential acquisition targets and was not looking to divest the business, Sky News reported.
Read moreJP Morgan prefers StanChart to HSBC
21st Mar 2016 12:45
(ShareCast News) - Shares in StanChart were offering close twice the value of those in HSBC, JP Morgan said, leading it to recommend them to clients over those in rival HSBC. Ongoing pressure on revenues from global markets and Asian wealth management might create downside risk for the sector, b
Read moreFriday newspaper round-up: LLoyds Bank, NZ zero hour contracts, Libor traders
11th Mar 2016 07:14
(ShareCast News) - The US has been handed a proposal that would end the last vestiges of its control over the internet, touching off a potentially contentious political debate in Washington over the future of cyber space. The proposal was put forward on Thursday by the Internet Corporation for Assig
Read moreCMA extends deadline for retail banking investigation
7th Mar 2016 09:50
(ShareCast News) - The Competition and Markets Authority has decided to extend the deadline for its investigation into the UK retail banking sector, which it believes is not competitive enough. The CMA said the extension to 12 August from May is necessary to allow enough time to take full and proper
Read moreThursday newspaper share tips: Virgin Money, Challenger banks
3rd Mar 2016 16:40
(ShareCast News) - Homes are not always a safe repository of value, as property busts show, but at the moment they are the safest corner of the UK banking space. That was reflected yesterday in Virgin Money's full-year figures for return on tangible equity, which at 10.9% easily trumped those of the
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