Great Christmas for Sainsbury, now for the Queen's jubilee
11th Jan 2012 07:02
Confirmation that supermarket chain Sainsbury has regained its mojo came in the form of the group's best ever Christmas sales performance, which topped the market's expectations. The group was widely expected to have had the best Christmas of the major UK players, and it appears to have set a high
Read moreTuesday broker round-up - UPDATE
10th Jan 2012 09:15
Cairn Energy: Oriel upgrades to add from hold. Tesco: Bank of America Merrill Lynch downgrades to neutral from buy. Marks & Spencer: Panmure Gordon reiterates hold and 307p target; Peel Hunt maintains hold and 350p target. Barclays: UBS cuts target from 215p to 199p, neutral rating unchanged. R
Read moreLondon midday: Eyes on Merkozy meeting as Footsie falls
9th Jan 2012 11:43
London's blue chip index was trading slightly lower by midday, following a moderate rise early on, with all eyes on the meeting between Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy. The German Chancellor and French Prime Minister are to hold a press conference in the next hour in which they are expected to d
Read moreMonday broker round-up - UPDATE
9th Jan 2012 09:19
InterContinental Hotels: Deutsche Bank upgrades to buy from hold. Fresnillo: Deutsche Bank upgrades to buy from hold. Antofagasta: Deutsche Bank downgrades to hold from buy. ARM Holdings: Citi reiterates buy. Capita: Panmure Gordon downgrades from hold to sell, target cut from 700p to 560p. Mor
Read moreLondon open: Footsie up early on, pharmas fall
9th Jan 2012 08:18
London's FTSE 100 opened slightly higher on Monday morning helped by banking titans Royal Bank of Scotland and HSBC. Oil stocks Essar Energy, Tullow Oil and Royal Dutch Shell were tracking oil prices higher. Today's big event will be the meeting of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French Preside
Read moreLondon pre-open: Slightly lower start for FTSE
9th Jan 2012 07:13
London is set to open little changed, with optimism held in check by a statement from James Bullard, President of the Federal Reserve bank of St. Louis, which appears to put the kibosh on a new round of bond purchases by the US Federal Reserve in the immediate future. City sources predict the FTSE
Read moreChristmas comes late at Morrisons
9th Jan 2012 07:03
Like-for-like (LFL) sales growth continued at supermarket chain Morrisons over the final six weeks of 2011, albeit at a slower rate than in the third quarter. LFL sales excluding fuel, which strip out new stores openings and ignore petrol sales, were up 0.7% on the corresponding period of 2010; inc
Read moreSunday newspaper round-up: FX, Gas, M&S, RBS, IAG, Tesco
8th Jan 2012 15:00
"The Euro is still above the fair value of $1.25 implied by purchasing power parity - and it has been so ever since its recovery from its disastrous early years. A move well below $1.25, if not quite to $1.10, looks more likely if the US recovery story suggested by yesterday´s unexpectedly strong jo
Read moreWeek Ahead: Big week for retailers
6th Jan 2012 12:54
Next week is a big one for the UK retail sector, with a number of heavyweights set to report on Christmas trading, including Marks and Spencer, Morrisons, Debenhams, Sainsbury and Tesco. Among the second tier players, the announcements from Game, Halfords, Home Retail, HMV, Thorntons and Mothercare
Read moreFTSE 100 Movers: Next's forecasts to be downgraded, broker suggests
4th Jan 2012 12:39
Fashion chain Next was in the bottom spot on the FTSE 100 leader-board after it saw slightly disappointing trading at its Retail stores. Interestingly, the firm says its post-Christmas sale period has gone well, with final clearance rates slightly ahead of 2010. This will give investors some heart
Read moreLondon close: Miners drag Footsie down 2.3%
14th Dec 2011 16:42
The FTSE 100 index finished at its lowest levels of the day on Wednesday, closing over 100 points down from Tuesday's close of 5,490. Just one stock in London, Morrison, finished in the blue, while the heavyweight mining sector dominated the downward direction. Markets remain concerned with the ong
Read moreBroker snap: ING cautious on European retailers, M&S and Tesco
14th Dec 2011 15:06
Analysts at broker ING have today downgraded their ratings on several of Europe's major retailers, such as Carrefour, Tesco (from buy to sell) and Marks&Spencer (from hold to sell). ING has expressed its caution regarding the sector due to the on-going Eurozone crisis and the associated fiscal aust
Read moreFTSE 100 Movers: Miners drag index down
14th Dec 2011 14:19
Miners were among the worst performers. Dollar-denominated metals prices were on the decline as the greenback strengthened following the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) statement. Fresnillo, Rio Tinto, ENRC and Antofagasta were all registering steep falls. Last night, the FOMC decided, as expe
Read moreMorrisons to create 7,000 jobs in 2012
14th Dec 2011 11:49
Supermarket chain Morrisons said it aims to create more than 7,000 new jobs in 2012 as it opens more stores and develops its manufacturing and logistics arms. The company plans to open 25 new stores in 2012 and said many of the new posts would be 'craft skills' jobs such as butchery, bakery and fis
Read moreWednesday broker round-up - UPDATE
14th Dec 2011 10:09
Tesco: ING downgrades to sell from buy. Marks&Spencer: ING downgrades to sell from hold. Morrison: ING upgrades from hold to buy. Rio Tinto: Credit Suisse reiterates outperform recommendation and 5,000p target. London Stock Exchange: Credit Suisse upgrades from underperform to neutral, 850p tar
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