London midday: Rally in mining stocks boost equities
9th Oct 2015 11:13
(ShareCast News) - The FTSE advanced on Friday at midday, driven by a rally in mining stocks as metal prices rose. Glencore led mining shares higher as investors welcomed its decision to cut 500,000 tonnes or around a third of its annual zinc production as it looks to combat declining prices. "This
Read moreLondon open: Stocks rise after BoE, ECB and Fed meeting minutes
9th Oct 2015 08:35
(ShareCast News) - London stocks were in positive territory on Friday as investors continued to analyse policy meeting minutes from the Bank of England, European Central Bank and the Federal Reserve. The BoE on Thursday voted 8-1 to maintain rates at 0.50% and its asset purchase programme at £375bn,
Read moreUK government trims Lloyds stake to just under 11%
9th Oct 2015 07:32
(ShareCast News) - The UK government has cut its stake in Lloyds Banking Group by a further 1% to just under 11%. Earlier this week, it emerged that the finance ministry will sell at least £2bn worth of Lloyds shares to private retail investors in the spring of next year as it looks to return the ba
Read moreTuesday newspaper share tips: What to make of the Lloyds share offer
6th Oct 2015 11:18
(ShareCast News) - The government's share offer of Lloyds Banking Group shares may seem attractive with a 5% discount off the market price and a promise of bonus shares. But what did the newspaper pundits make of the deal? The Times' Tempus in its special report thinks it looks promising and suggest
Read moreStrong response to Lloyds share offer on first day
6th Oct 2015 10:46
(ShareCast News) - Treasury sources have revealed 62,500 people have registered their interest in the government's Lloyds Banking Group share offer, Sky News reported. The government is looking to sell the remainder of its stake in the bank it bailed out in 2008. It still owns a 13% stake and said
Read moreLondon close: Stocks end higher despite negative services data
5th Oct 2015 16:03
(ShareCast News) - UK stocks gained as the market proved resilient against a batch of negative services data on hopes the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates unchanged for longer. The Markit/CIPS UK services purchasing managers' index fell to 53.3 in September from 55.6 in August, compared to a
Read moreBroker tips: Barclays, Lloyds, Rio Tinto, Glencore, BHP Billiton
5th Oct 2015 15:56
(ShareCast News) - The FCA´s move on Friday to draw a line under the Payment Protection Insurance scandal is positive overall for the industry, with Lloyds likely to be the most favourably impacted, followed by Barclays, according to JP Morgan. Furthermore, analysts Raul Sinha and Vivek Gautam highl
Read moreJP Morgan stays at overweight on Lloyds and Barclays
5th Oct 2015 15:26
(ShareCast News) - The FCA´s move on Friday to draw a line under the Payment Protection Insurance scandal is positive overall for the industry, with Lloyds likely to be the most favourably impacted, followed by Barclays, according to JP Morgan. Furthermore, analysts Raul Sinha and Vivek Gautam highl
Read moreInvestec reiterates buy and 86p target on Lloyds
5th Oct 2015 14:47
(ShareCast News) - The UK government confirmed it would continue to forge ahead with the re-privatisation of Lloyds via a retail sale of at least 2bn pounds in spring 2016, news which should please investors, Investec said. That amount is slightly less than expected. Nonetheless, the government has
Read moreGovernment to sell GBP2bn stake in Lloyds to private investors
5th Oct 2015 08:06
(ShareCast News) - The Government will start offering portions of its stake in Lloyds Banking Group to private investors in spring 2016. HM Treasury announced on Monday at least £2bn of shares will be available for sale as it tries to offload its remaining 13% stake. The public will be offered a 5%
Read moreLondon close: Stocks gain as disappointing non-farm payrolls push back rate hike forecasts
2nd Oct 2015 16:10
(ShareCast News) - UK stocks ended higher on Friday after a disappointing US non-farm payrolls report pushed back expectations for an interest rate hike. Non-farm payrolls rose 142,000 in September, falling well short of analysts' estimates for a 201,000 increase, the Labor Department revealed. Augu
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Banks rise after PPI deadline proposed; Experian falls after hack
2nd Oct 2015 14:35
(ShareCast News) - After a strong start to the day, the FTSE drastically dropped back to 6,080.75 mid-afternoon, up 8.28 points (0.14%). Shares in banks were the big winners of the day after news the Financial Conduct Authority is considering a deadline of spring 2018 for any final payment protectio
Read moreNomura still bullish on UK domestic banks, Barclays and Lloyds among top picks
29th Sep 2015 10:15
(ShareCast News) - Nomura remains bullish on domestic UK banks, highlighting Barclays and Lloyds Banking Group among its top five picks in the sector. It said that despite a number of headwinds facing the UK banks, they appear well positioned relative to peers in terms of capital, underlying profita
Read moreLondon close: Stocks increase as US GDP revised higher, Yellen signals rate hike
25th Sep 2015 17:09
(ShareCast News) - London stocks finished Friday's session in positive territory after figures US gross domestic product for the second quarter was unexpectedly revised higher, adding to the case for an interest rate hike later this year. The third and final estimate of second quarter US GDP was rev
Read moreLondon open: Stocks rise after Fed's Yellen says rates will rise this year
25th Sep 2015 08:38
(ShareCast News) - UK stocks gained after Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen said an increase in interest rates is likely to happen this year. Yellen said she expects inflation to return to the Fed's 2% target over the next few years and that weak growth in emerging economies will not have a big eno
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