London afternoon: Footsie stuck in the red
19th Nov 2009 14:06
Footsie is bumbling along close to its low for the day ahead of what is expected to be a weak start on Wall Street. Futures point to falls of anything between 50-70 points for the Dow when US trading starts, with weak metal prices likely to be a key theme. Here, lower metals have already hit the
Read moreLondon noon: Miners drag Footsie down
19th Nov 2009 12:00
Barely a fifth of the FTSE 100 constituents are in positive territory, but the fall on the blue-chip index is still modest, given the weakness of miners. With metals prices softening, the likes of Antofagasta, Anglo American, Xstrata, Randgold Resources, Rio Tinto and Vedanta are on the slide, as i
Read moreLondon open: Miners lead Footsie lower
19th Nov 2009 08:19
Miners are leading London's top stocks lower in early dealings on Thursday, while investors also have a stream of company updates to consider. Nine out of the ten worst performers are miners. Fresnillo, Xstrata, Antofagasta, Rio Tinto, Anglo American, Vedanta Resources, Eurasian Natural Resources,
Read moreLondon pre-open: Slight rise expected
19th Nov 2009 07:35
Footsie is expected to post modest gains in early dealings as the stream of company updates continues. Supermarket chain Morrisons reported a 4.3% rise in like-for-like sales and left its expectations for the current year unchanged. Market expectations were for underlying sales growth, excluding fu
Read moreNational Grid's profit up 16%, ups divi
19th Nov 2009 07:17
Gas and electricity pipeline grid operator National Grid upped its interim dividend after posting a 16% rise in pre-tax profits. Pre-tax profit rose to £649m in the six month ended 30 September compared with £558m last time, supported by lower financing costs. The interim dividend has been increa
Read moreThursday preview: Morrisons, SABMiller, Halfords, National Grid
18th Nov 2009 16:33
The timing of the interim management statement from supermarket chain Morrisons is intriguing, given that it comes one day after the news that its chief executive is to jump ship to take up a similar role at Marks & Spencer. In common with the other supermarkets, Morrisons is expected to report tha
Read moreGrid finance chief sells again
24th Sep 2009 17:14
Gas and electricity network operator National Grid has sailed through the turbulence of the past year relatively unscathed. The share price now is still lower than this time in 2008, but has bounced strongly since April and finance director Steve Lucas is taking advantage to sell his second chunk
Read moreLondon afternoon: Footsie consolidates gains
16th Sep 2009 14:30
The number of FTSE 100 constituents in the red today is in single figures as investors chase up share prices in the wake of relatively upbeat comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke last night. Bernanke said the US recession 'is very likely over at this point,' prompting an advance by gl
Read moreLondon midday: Footsie breaks through 5100
16th Sep 2009 11:58
Leading shares rose steadily throughout the morning session pushing the FTSE 100 index through the 5100 barrier. Mining stocks are responsible for much of the rise as metals prices head north after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the US recession 'is very likely over at this point' in a s
Read moreBroker tips: Cadbury, defensives, Trinity Mirror
7th Sep 2009 13:35
US foods group Kraft will need to boost its offer to stand any chance of winning control of Cadbury, the world's second largest confectionery company in terms of sales, broker Charles Stanley reckons. 'The Kraft offer values Cadbury on less than 2x sales, significantly lower than the 2.3x sales it
Read moreBroker snap: Nomura goes defensive
7th Sep 2009 12:59
Nomura Securities is changing the emphasis of its portfolio strategy, moving away from the traditional cyclical groups such as basic industries, consumer cyclicals and capital goods towards some of the recent laggards, such as telecoms, healthcare and utilities. 'The cyclicals now trade on large pr
Read moreSector movers: Centrica lifts utility sector despite brush-off
21st Aug 2009 11:11
Centrica is among the stocks lifting the gas, water and multi-utilities sector higher. The energy company shares are higher even though the Aberdeen-based oil and gas firm urged its shareholders to reject Centrica's 845p-a-share offer for the group. National Grid is the best performer in the sec
Read moreTuesday tips round-up: National Grid, Pearson, Dialight
28th Jul 2009 06:43
National Grid is the safest of the safe. Even for a utility, it has a risk-averse investment model. At the moment, 95% of its revenues are from regulated services. Last week's confirmation that a major ratings agency was taking the outlook back up to "stable" is a key development and leaves the st
Read moreLondon close: Footsie equals winning streak
27th Jul 2009 16:59
Though it was a close run thing the Footsie ended the day in the blue, equalling its record run of 11 successive days of rises. The blue-chip index was supported by a strong performance from miners and the part-nationalised banks. Lonmin was wanted after Goldman Sachs upgraded the stock to "neutr
Read moreLondon afternoon: Winning streak in danger
27th Jul 2009 14:34
Footsie has dipped back into the red, with sentiment taking a knock from Wall Street's soft opening. Were the Footsie to finish higher today it would equal a record streak of 11 successive days of gains. Pearson remains the best performer on a much better than expected trading update. The publishin
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