RBS Pakistan sale falls through
4th Jan 2010 07:05
The sale of Royal Bank of Scotland's Pakistan unit has fallen through after the deal failed to get the necessary regulatory approvals and complete before the 31 December deadline. Government-owned RBS agreed in August to sell its 99.4% stake in the business to Muslim Commercial Bank (MCB) for $87m.
Read moreLondon open: Steady gains for blue chips
31st Dec 2009 08:53
Footsie is still on course for its best year in over a decade with another good housing report from Nationwide boosting building-related stocks. Plumbers merchant Wolseley and housebuilder Berkeley lead the way after Nationwide's latest survey showed house prices rose by 0.4% in December, taking th
Read moreLondon close: Dull day for blue chips
30th Dec 2009 16:44
Footsie closed near its low for the day after banks and miners turned down on very low volumes ahead of a short day's trading tomorrow. A flat start on Wall Street didn't help, but it was Royal Bank of Scotland, Barclays and Standard Chartered that led the the banks down while miners Fresnillo, Rio
Read moreLondon midday: Stocks slip lower
30th Dec 2009 11:43
Tops stocks are lower with two of the bigger sectors of the market weighing. Royal Bank of Scotland, Barclays and Standard Chartered are down amongst the banks while miners Fresnillo, Rio Tinto, Lonmin and Anglo American also fall. Petrofac, the oil services firm, is outperforming after news of
Read moreOFT drops action on bank charges
22nd Dec 2009 07:09
The Office of Fair Trading has decided to drop its action to curb bank charges after last month's ruling by the Supreme Court in favour of the banks. 'The Supreme Court judgment was not the outcome we had hoped for and was disappointing for many bank customers. Having now considered in detail all t
Read moreStill no debt deal for Dubai World
21st Dec 2009 17:58
Dubai World still hasn't agreed the suspension of repayments on its $22bn debt pile despite putting forward restructuring plans today. The troubled state-owned firm held talks with dozens of banks and said it would reach a deal 'in an orderly way' as Dubai's leaders promised financial support if a
Read moreLondon Close: Footsie posts strong gain
21st Dec 2009 16:54
Footsie ended the day almost 2% higher after a strong performance throughout the day. The positive opening of Wall Street gave a further boost later in the afternoon. The Dow has jumped over 100 points helped by optimism that the $800bn plus Health Care Bill could get approved sooner rather than l
Read moreLondon afternoon: Dow gains lift Footsie
21st Dec 2009 14:47
Footsie is pushing forward following a strong start on Wall St fuelled by weakness in the dollar and related gains for the miners. The Dow has jumped over 80 points helped by optimism that the $800bn plus Health Care Bill could get approved sooner rather than later. Over here, Cairn Energy is sti
Read moreBroker tips: Banks, GKN, Luminar
21st Dec 2009 12:51
The warning by the Basel Committee last week that banks will have to face lower returns in future has not dissuaded Deutsche Bank from extolling the virtues of investing in the shares of UK banks Barclays, Lloyds Banking and Royal Bank of Scotland. The German bank has reiterated its 'buy' recommend
Read moreBroker snap: UK banks still look cheap
21st Dec 2009 12:36
The warning by the Basel Committee last week that banks will have to face lower returns in future has not dissuaded Deutsche Bank from extolling the virtues of investing in the shares of UK banks Barclays, Lloyds Banking and Royal Bank of Scotland. The German bank has reiterated its 'buy' recommend
Read moreLondon midday: Oil fired Footsie
21st Dec 2009 12:00
Oil is fuelling the Footsie's rise today, with support from back-in-favour banks. Cairn Energy has secured a drill ship to get an early start on its exploration activities in Greenland. The oil company said drilling in Greenland will start a year ahead of schedule after it came to a deal with Hess
Read moreLondon open: Blue chips move higher
21st Dec 2009 08:46
Footsie has moved higher following a positive finish for US shares on Friday. Second line oil groups Cairn and Tullow Oil are the best performers following the spike in the crude price on Friday on renewed tension between Iran and Iraq. Banks have also rallied a little after heavy falls last week
Read moreLondon close: Late decline wipes out gains
18th Dec 2009 16:43
Footsie ended lower having spent most of the day in positive territory. Financials led the market down and cruise operator Carnival's lower quarterly profit did not help. Most of the miners ended the day higher but they lost some of their earlier gains. Having been hit hard yesterday following the
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Miners decouple from dollar
18th Dec 2009 14:47
Kazakhmys, Antofagasta, BHP Billiton, Vedanta and Xstrata are the best of a generally buoyant mining sector, which had been weak recently as the dollar has rallied against the euro. The best performing blue-chip is knee and hip joint supplier Smith & Nephew after UBS bumped up its price target for
Read moreLondon afternoon: Stocks in consolidation mode
18th Dec 2009 14:21
Blue-chips moved sideways over the lunch-time session, consolidating the morning's gains. Goldman Sachs has given a lift to the oil sector, tipping BP as the 'clear winner' among oil companies next year, though it also rates UK operators BG and Royal Dutch Shell over their continental European coun
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