London afternoon: Brokers boost banks
15th Apr 2010 14:25
Footsie is keeping its head above 5800, climbing a bit further over the lunch time session despite expectations of a soft start on Wall Street. After better than expected results from US investment bank JP Morgan yesterday investors are keen on UK banks such as Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland and
Read moreSector movers: Uniq pension plans hard to digest
15th Apr 2010 12:28
Uniq is leading the food sector producer sector lower. The company, whose customers include Marks & Spencer, posted a pre-tax loss of £18.5m for the year, compared with £100,000 the previous year, on revenues that edged up to £287.2m from £286.7m. But what has really concerned investors is a prop
Read moreLondon midday: Flat Footsie
15th Apr 2010 11:50
Leading shares remain mixed , with laggards among FTSE 100 constituents now marginally outnumbering leaders. Experian is the worst performing blue-chip. The credit checking firm saw revenues from continuing operations rise for the six months to March but revenues at its UK operations fell in the pe
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Banks keep Footsie up
15th Apr 2010 11:45
London's leading shares are just above flat as good gains from banks are being offset by weak defensives. Investors are keen on the likes of Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland and HSBC Holdings but defensives are proving a drag. Reckitt Benckiser, Unilever are lower while G4S, Centrica and Thomas Coo
Read moreLondon open: Modest gains
15th Apr 2010 08:43
London's benchmark index has kicked off with modest gains with banks proving popular early on. Investors are keen on the likes of Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland and HSBC Holdings But they seem unsure about Rio Tinto, which released a first quarter update. The group said its operation continued
Read moreLondon open: Greece deal boosts Footsie
12th Apr 2010 08:25
London's top stocks have made a good start to the new week on news that euro zone finance ministers have approved a €30bn emergency aid package for debt-stricken Greece. Under the terms of the deal, Greece would receive the potential aid via a three-year loan with an interest rate of around 5%, wel
Read moreMonday newspaper round-up: RBS, Banks, Greece
12th Apr 2010 06:11
Royal Bank of Scotland has said that it may extend its loans to Liverpool to help the club's unpopular American owners to sell it. It emerged over the weekend that Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr have abandoned plans to sell a minority stake to Rhône Capital, an American private-equity firm, instead
Read moreLondon close: Footsie keeps climbing
6th Apr 2010 16:29
The day was dominated by news that the general election will be held on May 6 following Prime Minister Gordon Brown's announcement, but Footsie was lifted higher by unrelated factors. Petrofac led the market higher on its first day of trading since demerging its UK Continental Shelf assets into a
Read moreLondon afternoon: Early gains dissipating
6th Apr 2010 14:23
Footsie is still in the blue but the gains are slowly dribbling away on a day which, aside from the heavily trailed dissolution of Parliament, is light on news. Petrofac is leading the market higher on its first day of trading since demerging its UK Continental Shelf assets into a new company, Enqu
Read moreLondon open: Gains as Brown names the day
6th Apr 2010 08:52
With Gordon Brown expected to call an election for 6 May, election fever has gone into overdrive. Investors are more focused on resource plays this morning, though. Oil hit an 18-month high last night in New York as the good monthly jobs number last week encouraged more optimism on the US economy.
Read moreLondon close: Footsie takes a late tumble
30th Mar 2010 16:55
A late dive in line with a slide into the red on Wall Street sent shares lower ahead of the close. US stocks were hit by worries over the sovereign debt situation. The retreat came as rating agency Standard & Poors cut Iceland's rating and after subdued demand for an auction of 12-year Greek debt.
Read moreSector movers: Miners on the march
30th Mar 2010 14:48
The mining sector is higher after a couple of updates from big players. BHP Billiton has successfully persuaded several of its iron ore customers in Asia to move to shorter term contracts. The group said it has reached agreement with a significant number of customers throughout Asia to move existin
Read moreLondon afternoon: Footsie seeking direction
30th Mar 2010 14:20
Footsie is still marking time as gains in the mining sector struggle to offset losses among banking stocks. Mining giant BHP Billiton is higher after saying it has successfully persuaded several of its iron ore customers in Asia to move to shorter term contracts. The renegotiated contracts cover th
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Financials negate mining gains
30th Mar 2010 12:14
Mining companies remain the best performers in the Footsie but they can't totally offset the decline in financials. Strong demand for metals plus news that BHP Billiton has successfully persuaded several of its iron ore customers in Asia to move to shorter term contracts has boosted the whole sect
Read moreLondon midday: Equities mark time
30th Mar 2010 12:01
Footsie finished the morning little changed despite a strong showing from the mining sector. Mining giant BHP Billiton is higher after saying it has successfully persuaded several of its iron ore customers in Asia to move to shorter term contracts. The renegotiated contracts cover the majority of B
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