London close: Miners eclipse banks to send index lower
3rd Dec 2009 16:35
London closed on a low note as a good day for bank shares was offset by dips for the miners and oil groups. Banking shares marched forward despite an assertion by influential US bank Goldman Sachs that commodity prices are set to rise in 2010. Goldman Sachs also seems to be out of step in its view
Read moreLondon midday: Shares lack direction
3rd Dec 2009 12:11
Banking shares are still marching forward but gains are countered by weakness among miners, despite an assertion by influential US bank Goldman Sachs that commodity prices are set to rise in 2010. Goldman Sachs also seems to be out of step in its view of banks today, having downgraded the sector to
Read moreLondon open: Banks lead risers, RBS down
3rd Dec 2009 08:21
Barclays and Lloyds are leading London's top stocks higher in early dealings on Thursday, though Royal Bank of Scotland is an exception. RBS has dropped on news that that the bank's board is threatening to resign en masse if Alistair Darling will veto the group's £1.5bn bonus pot. On the positive
Read morePetra Diamonds raises £73m
3rd Dec 2009 08:16
Petra Diamonds, which part owns South Africa's Cullinan mine, has raised US$120m (£72.7m) from a placing of shares at 60p each to strengthen the balance sheet and develop its mines. It will use the money to pay off $24.6m of the $80m Al Rajhi Holdings loan as part of the option to increase Petra's
Read moreSunday tips round-up: Lloyds, Standard Chartered, Petra Diamonds
29th Nov 2009 12:08
The option to buy shares at a discount to the market price is extremely tempting. If the economy turns upwards and Lloyds can pull off a successful merger of operations with those of HBOS, then 37p looks like an extremely good deal. But the economic outlook remains uncertain and banks have not prove
Read moreStrong prices cheer Petra Diamonds
18th Nov 2009 10:07
Shares in Petra Diamonds sparkled after the diamond producer said received strong prices from the sale of two diamonds. 'Two Cullinan white diamonds of 58 and 53 carats were sold in early November for US$2.8m,' it said. 'The strong prices achieved bode well for the values that could be realised fr
Read moreLondon close: Footsie gives up gains
7th Jul 2009 16:29
Footsie managed to shrug off a poor performance on Wall Street until late in the day but gave up the fight just before the close to finish slightly in the red. Miners led the risers. Xstrata was wanted as rumours resurfaced that Brazilian mining titan Vale is contemplating reviving bid talks with
Read moreLondon afternoon: Prices hold steady at higher levels
7th Jul 2009 14:09
Equity prices stagnated over the lunch time trading session. Footsie remains modestly higher but volumes are low. Miners lead the advance, with the top 6 performers among Footsie constituents all mining stocks, Miner Xstrata is wanted, as rumours resurface that Brazilian mining titan Vale is con
Read moreLondon midday: Shares comes off the top
7th Jul 2009 12:11
Prices are off the top despite expectations of a moderately firmer opening on Wall Street. Earlier shares had been given a lift by the release of the latest British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) survey showed a rebound of confidence levels in the second quarter. Britain may have seen the worst of the
Read morePetra output surges, trading remains challenging
7th Jul 2009 08:54
Africa focused diamond producer Petra Diamonds said annual output increased five fold to over 1m carats while sales declined and trading conditions remained challenging. Production for the year ended 30 June 2009 rose to 1.1m carats an increase of over 453.6% from the same time a year earlier. Reve
Read morePetra's blue diamond fetches record $9.5m
13th May 2009 10:09
A rare blue diamond has set a new world record price per carat in the midst of the global recession when it was sold in Geneva on Tuesday. Petra Diamonds, the company which discovered the stone at the Cullinan mine in South Africa last year, said the stone sold for $9,488,754m, or $1,349,752 per c
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