Thursday newspaper round-up: Federal Reserve, Lloyds, RBS...
19th Nov 2014 18:27
Minutes from the Federal Reserve's October meeting showed that it was an "easy decision" by policymakers to end quantitative easing, writes the Financial Times. The paper says that minutes showed "little debate or dissent" over the move and underlines a more hawkish stance among the committee.
Read moreLloyds to hand back pay to 10,000 employees who were refused a pay rise
18th Nov 2014 09:48
Lloyds Banking Group is set to give hundreds of pounds each back to almost 10,000 current and former employees, who were refused a pay rise. The staff will receive the payments after a long-running dispute between the lender and the LTU union over contracts that staff were asked to sign after the re
Read moreCMA launches enquiry into current accounts and SME banking
6th Nov 2014 08:04
The UK competition authority has launched an "in-depth market investigation" into both the personal current account and small business retail banking sectors, which could help 'challenger banks' to grow. Having in July said it was looking at whether to probe the sector, the Competition and Markets A
Read moreNew leverage ratios 'clear the overhang' for UK banks, says JPMorgan
3rd Nov 2014 10:37
JPMorgan Cazenove has welcomed the new leverage-ratio rules from the Financial Policy Committee (FPC), saying that the outcome for UK banks was better than the market had expected. Analysts reiterated their 'overweight' positions on Lloyds and Barclays, but kept 'neutral' ratings for RBS, HSBC and S
Read moreSector movers: Banking stocks surge on leverage ratio rules, RBS results
31st Oct 2014 15:02
Banking stocks, already bolstered by stronger-than-expected quarterly results from RBS, received another big lift on Friday afternoon as the Bank of England unveiled softer-than-expected requirements for leverage ratios. The leverage ratio, a key gauge of a bank's ability to cushion itself against l
Read moreLondon close: Markets stabilise ahead of Fed meeting
28th Oct 2014 16:35
UK stocks ended Tuesday's session on an upbeat note thanks to a strong performance by the mining sector and a level of stability not seen on markets for several weeks. The FTSE rose early on, dipped around 10:30, but recovered to deliver a steady performance throughout the afternoon, ultimately endi
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: StanChart slides after third-quarter results disappoint
28th Oct 2014 14:46
Shares in banking group Standard Chartered dropped after the company reported a 16% decline in operating profit in the third quarter and said that full-year earnings would be lower than last year. Shares in banking counterpart Standard Chartered dropped after the company reported a 16% decline in op
Read moreSector movers: Standard Chartered, Lloyds drag UK banks lower
28th Oct 2014 13:20
The second profit warning in a year from Standard Chartered and some underwhelming results from Lloyds ensured that the banking sector was the worst-performing segment in London on Tuesday. Shares of Asia-focused StanChart were down 9% in afternoon trade after the bank warned that second-half underl
Read moreLondon open: UK stocks rise, but Lloyds and StanChart fall
28th Oct 2014 08:54
Despite some heavy falls from banking heavyweights Lloyds and Standard Chartered, UK stocks advanced on Tuesday morning as the FTSE 100 rebounded from a one-week low. London's benchmark index was up 0.6% at 6,404 in early deals, helped by decent gains from oil major BP. The Footsie closed at 6,363.
Read moreLondon pre-open: Calm session expected ahead of Wednesday's FOMC decision
28th Oct 2014 07:42
London's blue chips are set for a reversal of Monday's losses, with a degree of calmness expected in markets ahead of Wednesday's Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting. City sources predict the FTSE 100 will open around 32 points higher than Monday's close of 6,363.46. "It's been a very calm
Read moreLloyds profits beat targets as dividend pledged for full year - UPDATE
28th Oct 2014 07:14
Underlying profits were higher than expected at Lloyds Banking Group in the third quarter as it confirmed cost-cutting plans to cut 9,000 jobs and close a net 150 branches, but a further provision for miss-sold payment protection insurance (PPI) were worse than anticipated. The bank's underlying pro
Read moreLondon close: Weaker German business confidence, stress tests weigh on stocks
27th Oct 2014 16:14
UK-listed stocks closed lower on Monday, with banks and mining stocks providing a drag in the aftermath of the results of the latest EU bank stress tests and alongside a weak reading on German business confidence. The FTSE closed down 24.92 points at 6,363.81 after falling early on. Stocks were dra
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Travel stocks lead following recent Ebola-related declines
27th Oct 2014 15:36
Travel stocks were among the best performers as investors continued to search for bargains after recent Ebola-related weakness in the sector. TUI Travel, Intercontinental Hotels, Carnival, IAG and Easyjet were putting in decent gains, with the latter two being helped by positive comments from Morgan
Read moreSector movers: Lloyds leads banks lower as stress-test success underwhelms
27th Oct 2014 14:10
Investors of the UK's biggest high street banks were left underwhelmed on Monday by the news that Britain's lenders had all passed the latest stress tests in Europe. Lloyds, HSBC, RBS and Barclays were all trading firmly in the red in afternoon trade. Results from the European Banking Authority's (
Read moreBroker tips: Lloyds, GlaxoSmithKline, Airlines
27th Oct 2014 12:32
Lloyds may have passed the Europe-wide stress tests, but the UK's own bank-health checks may be an issue, according to broker Jefferies which downgraded the stock from 'hold' to 'underperform' on Monday. The broker reckons that Lloyds is now "at risk" ahead of the Prudential Regulation Authority's f
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