London close: Stocks surge on Iranian oil report
23rd Mar 2012 16:42
- Oil surges on falling Iranian exports - BoE tells banks to raise capital ASAP - BT leads the rise, miners trim losses London's blue chips rallied in afternoon trade with the Footsie surging in the last two hours to finish in positive territory as oil prices jumped. According to report in Reuters
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: BT tops the charts on pension news
23rd Mar 2012 13:53
BT was the top blue-chip performer after the telecoms titan said it will pay off its pension deficit within 10 years. The company announced that it has reached agreement with the trustees of the BT pension scheme that the funding deficit was £4.1bn at June 30th 2011, well down from the £9bn valuatio
Read moreLondon midday: Miners drag Footsie lower
23rd Mar 2012 11:55
- Footsie on track for worst weekly performance YTD - Miners fall, Randgold still hampered by Malian concerns - BT rises on pension deficit arrangement After a strong start, a sell-off in the mining sector dragged the Footsie into the red by lunchtime. Rising commodity prices did little to lift the
Read moreBroker snap: Nomura reiterates buy rating for Next
23rd Mar 2012 10:25
Fashion and homeware retailer Next was performing well on Friday morning, with Nomura providing a lift saying that the stock is a key holding in the retail sector. Next reported full-year basic earnings per share of 253.9p for the year ended January 31st, slightly above Nomura's 248.1p estimate. "
Read moreFriday broker round-up
23rd Mar 2012 09:23
Aviva: UBS raises target from 380p to 450p, buy rating unchanged. British American Tobacco: Jefferies ups targets from 3,340p to 3,600p, buy recommendation maintained. Bunzl: Jefferies reiterates underperform rating and 845p target. Imperial Tobacco: UBS raises target from 2,545p to 2,745p, buy r
Read moreThursday broker round-up
22nd Mar 2012 09:58
AMEC: JP Morgan Cazenove downgrades from overweight to neutral, target lifted from 1,252p to 1,344p. AstraZeneca: Liberium Capital upgrades from sell to buy, target lifted from 2,700p to 3,100p. British Land: Espirto Santo downgrades from buy to neutral. Capital Shopping Centres Group: Societe Ge
Read moreNext Directory picking up the slack
22nd Mar 2012 09:18
Fashion retail chain Next said the year to the end of January finished well after 2011 had presented the retail sector with 'the perfect economic storm'. Revenue rose to £3,506m from £3,454m the year before, ahead of market expectations of sales of £3.4bn. This was despite the core Retail chain -
Read moreLondon open: Stocks slump on Chinese manufacturing data
22nd Mar 2012 08:33
- Chinese data dampens sentiment - Randgold plummets on Malian troubles - Broker downgrades weigh on AMEC, REIT stocks The Footsie sank in early trading on Thursday with the miners providing a drag after the release of more disappointing economic data from China. Chinese factory activity register
Read moreLondon pre-open: Stocks take lead from US
22nd Mar 2012 07:43
City sources predict the FTSE 100 will open down five points from yesterday's close of 5,892, taking its lead from stocks in the US. Stocks to watch Fashion retail chain Next said the year to the end of January finished well after 2011 had presented the retail sector with 'the perfect economic s
Read moreNext weathers perfect storm
22nd Mar 2012 07:02
Fashion retail chain Next said the year to the end of January finished well after 2011 had presented the retail sector with 'the perfect economic storm'. Revenue rose to £3,506m from £3,454m the year before, ahead of market expectations of sales of £3.4bn. This was despite the core Retail chain - t
Read moreThursday preview: Kingfisher, Next, retail sales
21st Mar 2012 15:34
With the hoo-hah over the Budget behind us, attention reverts to corporate matters, with retailers in focus on Thursday. Do-it-yourself (DIY) retail giant Kingfisher is due to report full year results. Market expectations are for pre-tax profit of £801.9m on sales of £10.8bn. Earnings per share (EP
Read moreWeek Ahead: All eyes on the Chancellor
16th Mar 2012 08:15
Wednesday is the big day next week, when the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, unveils details of the Finance Bill, known to the likes of you and me as 'the Budget'. After ratings agency Fitch warned on Thursday that there is a slightly better than evens chance that Britain will lose its
Read moreLondon close: Stocks finish up, China and Eurogroup in focus
12th Mar 2012 16:34
- Stocks jump into the blue late on - China records worse-than-expected trade deficit - Resource stocks fall on Chinese demand concerns London's blue chip index managed to finish the day in positive territory despite swinging between gains and losses for most of the session. Concerns over the globa
Read moreLondon close: Optimistic mood ahead of Eurogroup, but risks remain
17th Feb 2012 17:10
-Merkel optimistic about Eurogroup meeting. -Miners lead gains on Footsie. -Retailer rise on economic data. London's benchmark index finished the week strongly - up 53 points on last Friday's close of 5,852 - as markets expressed confidence that the next Greek bailout can be secured on Monday. Af
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Barclays rises despite falling profits
10th Feb 2012 13:32
Barclays was topping the risers despite reporting falling profits and revenues in 2011. Of note, the bonus pool at Barclays Capital, its underperforming investment banking arm, was cut by 32%. Critically, however, the lender raised its dividend. That may have raised confidence in the lender´s abilit
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