London close: Footsie falls for fourth week
10th Jul 2009 17:04
London's blue-chip index fell for the fourth week in succession, with insurance and resource stocks the major fallers today. Aviva was the biggest casualty as fears resurfaced about the future of the company's dividend but its fellow life assurance stocks Prudential, Standard Life, Legal & General
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Life stocks head lower
10th Jul 2009 15:38
Life assurance stocks feature among the weakest performers as global markets continue to drift lower. Aviva, Prudential and Standard Life suffer the biggest falls in the sector. In the mining sector Rio Tinto is still under a cloud after four of its employees were arrested in China. Home Retail G
Read moreLondon afternoon: Equities drift down in quiet trading
10th Jul 2009 14:06
London equities are sleepwalking to a dull end to a dull week. Life assurance stocks feature among the weakest performers as global markets continue to drift lower. Aviva, Prudential and Standard Life suffer the biggest falls in the sector. In the mining sector Rio Tinto is still under a cloud aft
Read moreBroker snap: Friends may attract interest after demerger
3rd Jul 2009 11:59
The demerger of Friends Provident's asset management subsidiary F&C has received court approval and has taken place today, resulting in a downward adjustment in the share price. Broker Panmure Gordon believes that having offloaded its 52% stake in F&C Asset Management the life assurance company cou
Read moreLondon close: Heavy losses for Footsie
2nd Jul 2009 16:37
Footsie closed the day nursing triple-digit losses as investors took fright following poor US monthly jobs figures. WPP was the day's worst performer as Citigroup downgraded the UK advertising firm to sell from hold, saying a continuation of the trends in the second quarter would suggest a 7.5% org
Read moreLondon afternoon: Slide accelerates after US open
2nd Jul 2009 15:00
Investors are bailing out of equities in the US ahead of the long holiday week-end in the States, prompting the decline in UK equities to pick up pace. Rio Tinto is the day's worst performer despite a strong response to its $15.2bn rights issue. Shareholders have taken up 96.97% of the shares offer
Read morePrudential UK chief takes exit
2nd Jul 2009 12:16
Nick Prettejohn is quitting his job as chief executive of Prudential's UK and Europe business after three and a half years in the role, having missed out on the top job earlier this year. He'll leave the insurer in September, making way for Lloyds Banking man Rob Devey, a former insurance and retai
Read moreTuesday newspaper round-up: Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds, Candover
30th Jun 2009 06:13
Neelie Kroes, the European Union competition commissioner, is on Tuesday set to warn UK banks for a second time within a week that they may have to make disposals as a condition for the granting of state aid. Ms Kroes's tough message to the British Bankers' Association conference emphasises the ha
Read moreLondon close: Stocks finish in the red
26th Jun 2009 16:25
London's leading shares finished in the red by close as Wall Street remained in negative territory. Insurer were down with Friends Provident, Prudential and Legal & General lower while miners Eurasian Natural Resources, Rio Tinto and Vedanta were also down. The banks are in a healthier condition
Read moreLondon afternoon: Footsie in red
26th Jun 2009 14:13
London has slipped into negative territory, led by insurers and some wayward miners, while Wall Street is seen starting lower. Friends Provident, Prudential and Legal & General are among the biggest fallers, joined by Eurasian Natural Resources, Rio Tinto and Vedanta. The banks are in a healthier
Read moreLondon close: Late rally not enough
25th Jun 2009 17:01
A late rally by UK equities was not enough to prevent the blue-chip index closing in negative territory, largely as a result of weak miners, which were weighted down by softer metals prices. Lonmin, Vedanta, Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton were all stuck in the red. Elsewhere in the sector, Anglo Americ
Read moreLondon afternoon: Banks and miners retreat
25th Jun 2009 14:27
Leading equities drift lower in the afternoon session, led by banks and miners. Asia-focused bank Standard Chartered eases back, despite enjoying record income and operating profit in the first five months of this year. Some of this success has been offset by weakness in consumer banking, however,
Read moreLondon midday: Prices drift lower
25th Jun 2009 12:13
Shares continue to drift lower despite expectations of a firm start on Wall Street. Asia-focused bank Standard Chartered eases back, despite enjoying record income and operating profit in the first five months of this year. Some of this success has been offset by weakness in consumer banking, howe
Read moreLondon close: Carnival floats higher
19th Jun 2009 17:18
The so-called "triple witching" day, when options, index futures and options on index futures all expire on the same day, passed without the high volatility usually associated with the event. If anything it was a quieter day than usual, with broker comment rather than corporate news flow driving t
Read moreLondon afternoon: Footsie riding high
19th Jun 2009 13:58
London's blue chip index is trading at session highs as investors gear up for a strong start on Wall Street. Insurers remain among the top performers after Deutsche Bank upgraded its price targets for a number of major players in the life assurance sector. Aviva, Friends Provident and Standard L
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