London open: Shares win back some losses
24th May 2011 08:29
The top share index has made a modest recovery following yesterday's slide, with mining stocks setting the pace. Higher commodity prices are boosting the likes of South American copper miner Antofagasta and South African platinum miner Lonmin. The banking sector is under pressure though, with Mood
Read moreTalkTalk non-exec spends £250,000
23rd May 2011 15:19
Non-executive director Ian West has spent £250,000 on shares in the fixed line voice and broadband telecommunications company TalkTalk, it announced today. He took 181,700 shares at 137.58p a pop, taking his holding to 346,023 shares. The shares are lower than when he last took a stake in the com
Read moreMonday newspaper round-up: RBS, LSE, IMF, The Prelude
23rd May 2011 06:14
Royal Bank of Scotland is braced for the City regulator to refer to Sir Fred Goodwin's alleged affair with a colleague in its long-awaited report into the bank's collapse. As the fallout from Sir Fred's superinjunction spreads, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) has contacted the bank for detail
Read moreSunday newspaper round-up: Morrisons, RBS, Betfair ...
22nd May 2011 11:15
Wm. Morrison, the number four player in the UK supermarket sector, is plotting a £1.5bn bid for Iceland, the frozen food retailer, according to The Sunday Times. A takeover of the chain would nearly triple the number of Morrisons stores and bring its market share to within a whisker of Asda and Sain
Read moreFriday newspaper round-up: LinkedIn, Strauss-Kahn, Fred Goodwin
20th May 2011 00:54
The spectre of the dot-com bubble has re-emerged after shares in LinkedIn more than doubled on their debut in New York to value the fledgeling business at $9bn. The professional social network admitted that it did not expect to make a profit this year and reported $16 i in earnings for 2010, reports
Read moreTuesday newspaper round-up: Banks, IMF, BP
17th May 2011 06:24
The City will miss out on £1bn of fees if the Government goes ahead with an unusual method of bank privatisation recommended yesterday by Lord Saatchi and other influential Conservatives. The Centre for Policy Studies think-tank, chaired by the Tory peer, has urged the coalition to shun a normal sal
Read moreMonday newspaper round-up: House prices, M&A slowdown, Strauss-Kahn
16th May 2011 06:30
A lack of new properties on the market has pushed the average house price in England and Wales up to its highest level in nearly three years. The property website Rightmove said that prices rose by 1.3% over the past month to deliver an average of £238,874 ? the highest level since June 2008. Prices
Read moreBanks cave in over PPI
9th May 2011 14:45
The banking industry has admitted defeat in its legal battle over the mis-selling of payment protection insurance (PPI). The British Bankers' Association (BBA) announced on Monday it would not appeal against a ruling by the High Court in favour of tough new rules on selling PPI. Several million pe
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Inmarsat rises, banks fall
9th May 2011 13:32
Satellite communications giant Inmarsat is topping the risers after first quarter revenue rose by 15% boosted by payments from its agreement with US telecom group LightSquared. The banking sector is under the weather: Barclays' shares fell after it reported that it is setting aside £1bn to cover t
Read moreMonday newspaper round-up: Greece, Barclays, GDP
9th May 2011 06:26
The Chancellor has ruled out British participation in a further bailout of Greece as the eurozone grapples with the country's debt crisis. George Osborne said yesterday that the UK had been a "reluctant partner" in Portugal's rescue and would not be writing further cheques for the Greeks. His commen
Read moreLondon close: Late rally helped by the US
6th May 2011 16:41
The Footsie finished over 1% higher as an afternoon rally was helped by some better-than-expected US non-farm payrolls figures. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, non-farm payrolls rose by 244,000 in the month of April, while consensus had been pointing to a gain of 198,000. Banking gian
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: RBS's profit impresses
6th May 2011 14:47
RBS is topping the risers after making £1.05bn in underlying first quarter operating profit, p from £0.88bn the year before. Flying higher is airline IAG after it saw an improved performance in the first quarter as it reported its first results since forming from the merger of British Airways and S
Read moreLondon midday: Stocks stuck lower as volatility continues
6th May 2011 12:03
On another jittery day for the top share index, the FTSE 100 is slightly lower having won back some earlier losses. Well received results have failed to lift it into positive territory though. Part-nationalised lender Royal Bank of Scotlandis in demand. It made an underlying first quarter operating
Read moreLondon open: Flat start despite upbeat stocks news
6th May 2011 08:26
An unusually large number of company updates for a Friday has been given the thumbs up overall, but traders remain cautious following the slide over the past two days and the top share index is flat. Part-nationalised lender Royal Bank of Scotlandis in demand. It made an underlying first quarter op
Read moreLondon pre-open: RBS's operating profit tops £1bn
6th May 2011 07:40
London's leading shares are bearing up well considering the triple digit fall last night on Wall Street for the Dow Jones index. City traders expect the Footsie to open around 8 points lower this morning. Part-nationalised lender Royal Bank of Scotland made an underlying first quarter operating pro
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