London close: Banks behind fresh surge
9th Sep 2010 16:38
Investors were back in love with banks Thursday which, coupled with a big session for the miners, pushed the leading index to a new four-month high. The FTSE 100 finished not far off its best levels above 5,500. It was the first tim eit had traded above the big figure since May 4. British lenders
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Banks lead index higher
9th Sep 2010 15:52
Banks are leading the Footsie's rise with Barclays and RBS topping the best performers. Lloyds is also boosted by the sale of its debt holding in housebuilder Crest Nicholson. Miners such as Xstrata and Vedanta are recovering even though metals prices are weak. Chip designer ARM continues to r
Read moreLondon afternoon: ARM gives Footsie a hand
9th Sep 2010 14:44
Mining stocks continue to drive the market's advance, despite metal prices falling back as concerns grow about the Chinese authorities' determination to cool off the economy, with the latest report from the People's Republic suggesting that the government is set to introduce measures to curb propert
Read moreLondon midday: No change from BoE
9th Sep 2010 12:22
Footsie has fully recovered from a weak start and now boasts healthy gains driven by the banks and miners. As expected, the Bank of England kept interest rates on hold at 0.5% and the quantitative easing programme intact. The minutes, detailing who voted for a rate rise, will be more telling. Mine
Read moreBanks commission small business credit research
6th Sep 2010 17:01
The biggest British banks have commissioned a report that will profile the creditworthiness of their small business customers. The banks hope the report will head off criticism of their lack of lending. The banks argue that they are only turning away the risky proposals but small business organisa
Read moreSantander plans to hire 6,000
6th Sep 2010 15:51
Santander, the Spanish bank that is taking over many high street branches from RBS, plans to recruit 6,000 staff over the next year or two, according to the Financial Times. Santander, which already owns Abbey National, currently has 22,000 staff and will become the employer of 5,000 RBS workers wh
Read moreMonday newspaper round-up: British Airways, Income tax, Prudential...
6th Sep 2010 06:44
Willie Walsh has identified 12 airlines as potential acquisition targets once he completes the merger of British Airways and Iberia this year. The BA chief executive said that he had held discussions with executives of the Spanish flag carrier about future acquisitions, as he seeks to lead a wave o
Read moreLondon close: Footsie little changed
2nd Sep 2010 16:31
Leading shares struggled for direction all day and closed little changed as most blue chips traded sideways. Wall Street was similarly becalmed with the Dow Jones up just one point in the first few hours. European bourses did better as the ECB upped its forecast for eurozone growth for this year an
Read moreLondon afternoon: Bid talk spices up dull day
2nd Sep 2010 14:28
Leading shares are still lacking direction, a condition matched in the US where shares are expected to open mixed. High-flying computer chip designer ARM Holdings is flying a little lower today after Panmure Gordon reiterated its "sell" recommendation and cut its price target for the stock to 265p
Read moreRBS to cut 3,500 jobs
2nd Sep 2010 12:38
RBS is cutting another 3,500 UK jobs as it trims its back office operations, taking the number of staff axed since the bank was nationalised two years ago to 26,600. The staff cuts are part of a programme that aims to deliver annual savings of £2.5bn. About a third of the cuts are thought to be re
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Schroders moves higher
9th Aug 2010 15:31
The rising stock market and last week's strong interim figures have made fund manager Schroders the best performer in the Footsie. Funds under management were £164bn at the end of June 2010, up from £148.4bn at the end of 2009. Legal & General and Barclays - the shares go ex-dividend on Wednesday
Read moreMonday newspaper round-up: Lloyds, BP, Barley
9th Aug 2010 06:40
The Bank of England has warned Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland that they could face penalties from Brussels if there was an extension of the special funding scheme put in place during the financial crisis. The Bank believes that such an extension could break European Union state aid rules, becaus
Read moreLondon close: US unemployment rise sinks Footsie
6th Aug 2010 16:49
London's leading share index gave up a brief rally to close in the red after a jittery day in which well-received company results were overshadowed by disappointing US unemployment figures. The economy shed 131,000 jobs in July, according to figures from the Labor Department, with 143,000 public se
Read moreLondon afternoon: Footsie bounces back
6th Aug 2010 15:31
Footsie has crept higher after a spell in negative territory on the back of disappointing US jobs data. The economy shed 131,000 jobs in July, according to figures from the Labor Department, with 143,000 public sector census workers being laid off. Over here, the results stream has continued, albe
Read moreRBS sells card processing unit for £1.9bn
6th Aug 2010 14:11
Royal Bank of Scotland announced the sale of a controlling 80.01% stake in its credit card payment processing business to a private equity consortium for up to £1.9bn. The sale of its Global Merchant Services (GMS) business to a consortium of Advent International and Bain Capital is expected to gen
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