London close: Greek fears rattle stocks, but miners limit downside
9th Feb 2015 16:35
London's FTSE 100 had trimmed losses by the end of the session but still finished in the red as ongoing concerns about the future of Greece weighed on market sentiment. "Eurozone equities are being ground down by Greek fears, and financial stocks across the EU are bearing the brunt of the sell-off,"
Read moreBarclays, HSBC, RBS have ratings cut by S&P
3rd Feb 2015 17:41
Standard & Poor's has downgraded a number of UK and European banks on Tuesday. Barclays and Lloyds were lowered by two notches to 'BBB', while Royal Bank of Scotland was downgraded two notches to 'BBB-' and S&P cut HSBC by a notch to 'A'. Standard Chartered was downgraded one level to 'A-', while t
Read moreSunday newspaper round-up: Lloyds, BT, Standard Chartered
1st Feb 2015 13:33
Lloyds Banking Group is preparing to pay a dividend for the first time since it was bailed out by taxpayers, the Sunday Telegraph reported. The board will sign off the group's annual results and then ask the Bank of England permission to pay a dividend before announcing results on February 27th. Llo
Read moreFCA hints at tighter regulations on PPI complaints
30th Jan 2015 10:22
The Financial Conduct Authority has introduced the possibility that it may enforce a time limit on complaints about payment protection insurance (PPI), the mis-selling controversy that has so far cost banks more than £17bn in compensation. The group said it intends to analyse complaint trends and "c
Read moreLondon close: Stocks end choppy session firmly lower as data disappoints
6th Jan 2015 17:19
It was a volatile day for the UK equity market with stocks swinging between losses and gains for most of the session, with a late sell-off sending the FTSE 100 firmly in the red by the close. Service-sector activity data from across the globe largely came in below expectations with weak figures from
Read moreTuesday newspaper round-up: Verizon-AOL, RBS, Tesco...
6th Jan 2015 06:43
Verizon Communications is in talks with AOL about a possible deal to take over the latter or set up a joint venture, The Telegraph said, citing reports. It is thought that Verizon wants to use AOL to expand its mobile video operations. RBS' deputy chief executive Chris Sullivan has left the bank "se
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Energy stocks hit by drop in crude, Lloyds boosted by upgrade
2nd Jan 2015 14:22
Sainsbury was trading lower as hedge funds forecast that the supermarket group would be damaged by the grocery industry's escalating price war. Lansdowne Partners, Odey Asset Management and Marshall Wace all blamed the growing popularity of discounters Aldi and Lidl, who would hit profitability by f
Read moreSunday newspaper round-up: Tesco, Oil explorers, Sainsbury´s
28th Dec 2014 17:17
Tesco is testing a discount format in its One Stop chain, indicating the group could be considering new ways to combat Aldi and Lidl, the Sunday Times said. Three One Stop branches have been trading as discounters with low prices and limited ranges for the past seven weeks. The trial is the idea of
Read moreLondon close: Shares soar on upbeat Eurozone and bank news
16th Dec 2014 16:26
London shares bounced back on Tuesday in the wake of some long-awaited upbeat economic data in the Eurozone and positive news for UK banks. The FTSE 100 Index climbed 149.11 points to 6331.83 as Markit's purchasing managers' index (PMI) for euro-area manufacturing rose to 50.8 in December from 50.1
Read moreLondon midday: Bargain-hunting supports FTSE as stocks rebound from 18-month low
16th Dec 2014 12:17
Following a cautious start, UK stocks pushed into positive territory as investors went hunting for bargains. Shares had fallen to an 18-month low in the previous session. Markets erased earlier losses after UK inflation data showed the rate of increase in consumer prices hit a 12-year low in Novem
Read moreShoreCap expects Lloyds to resume dividends after stress tests, RBS will have to wait
16th Dec 2014 11:49
Shore Capital has said that the result of the Bank of England's (BoE) stress tests on UK banks was "a bit of a non-event" with all of the listed lenders passing as expected. Seven out of eight of the UK's largest banks and building societies passed the requirement that they hold a minimum common-equ
Read moreRBS, Lloyds narrowly pass BoE bank stress tests
16th Dec 2014 08:46
Part-nationalised lenders Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group only just passed the minimum requirements in the Bank of England's (BoE) assessments of banks' balance sheets in a hypothetical economic downturn. The Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) was testing banks against their resil
Read moreLondon open: UK stocks extend slide as Chinese data disappoints
16th Dec 2014 08:20
Yet more disappointing economic data from China pushed UK stocks lower for the seventh straight session on Tuesday, with markets extending losses despite plunging to an 18-month low the previous session. Not even the news that the Bank of England (BoE) has given a clean bill of health to seven out o
Read moreLondon pre-open: UK stocks to inch higher after heavy sell-off
16th Dec 2014 07:37
News that the Bank of England (BoE) has given a clean bill of health to seven out of eight of the UK's largest banks and building societies may offer some respite for financial markets on Tuesday, though sentiment is likely to still be fragile after an eye-watering sell-off the previous session. Cit
Read moreSeven out of eight UK banks pass BoE stress tests, Co-op Bank fails
16th Dec 2014 07:10
Seven out of eight of the UK's largest banks and building societies have passed the Bank of England's (BoE) latest round of stress tests, with the struggling Co-operative Bank being the only lender to have failed. BoE governor Mark Carney said that the results show that "the core of the banking syst
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