Sunday newspaper round-up: JJB Sports, Lloyds Banking, Punch Taverns
11th Oct 2009 11:16
JJB, the sportswear giant, claimed last night that it was the target of an elaborate hoax designed to sabotage a £100m fundraising plan and wreck the reputation of its chairman. The allegations were so serious that the retailer was forced on Friday to postpone the rights issue because it believed "
Read moreLondon midday: Flat morning for Footsie
9th Oct 2009 12:05
London ended the morning session flat with good demand for consumer stocks offsetting some profit taking among mining shares Losses on mining stocks such as Antofagasta, Vedanta and Kazakhmys have lengthened during the session as metal prices remain on a downward trajectory. Gold has fallen back f
Read moreLondon open: Consumers help Footsie progress
9th Oct 2009 08:45
Footsie has shrugged off some profit taking among the miners and more bank weakness to open higher, with consumer stocks leading the way. Gains for Whitbread, Kingfisher and Next are helping Footsie push on despite Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland. Both state-controlled banks have been unsettled b
Read moreFriday newspaper round-up: JJB Sports, Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds
9th Oct 2009 06:14
The government is probing whether Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds are failing to meet officially mandated lending targets by deliberately pricing loans to small and medium-sized businesses at artificially high levels. "We don't want them to make uneconomic loans but our research suggests they may
Read moreHSBC eyes RBS assets in Asia
7th Oct 2009 11:41
HSBC is reportedly close to buying the retail and commercial banking assets of Royal Bank of Scotland Group in China, India, and Malaysia after ongoing talks between the bank and Standard Chartered stalled. RBS had been in exclusive talks with Standard for some weeks, but according to the Wall Stre
Read moreBrussels may make banks axe 10% of clients
6th Oct 2009 09:02
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) may have to shed 10% of its small business customers if the European Commission, keen to penalise the bank pay for for receiving billions of pounds in state aid, gets its way. Brussels wants RBS, 70%-owned by the UK taxpayer, to give up about 100,000 of its one million
Read moreTuesday newspaper round-up: Royal Bank of Scotland, Dollar, Microsoft
6th Oct 2009 06:16
The European Commission wants Royal Bank of Scotland to sacrifice up to 10% of its small business customers as the penalty for receiving billions of pounds in state aid. RBS, which is 70% state controlled, would have to give up about 100,000 of its one million small business customers under the pla
Read moreLondon close: Footsie puts on late spurt
5th Oct 2009 17:16
Having been lethargic all day leading shares put on a late spurt in London, after receiving a transatlantic boost in the form of better than expected data from the US services sector. Miners featured prominently among the top performers, helped by bullish comment from Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS).
Read moreLondon afternoon: Footsie eases into the red
5th Oct 2009 13:45
The Footsie dipped into the red over the lunch-time session but it was a very shallow dip, with leading shares mixed and mostly sticking close to overnight levels. Life insurer Aviva is the heaviest faller in the FTSE 100 after it confirmed it is to sell a minority stake in its Dutch insurance bus
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Miners on the march
5th Oct 2009 12:16
Miners feature prominently among the top performers, helped by bullish comment from Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS). RBS has upgraded Antofagasta from 'sell' to 'buy'. RBS reiterated its 'hold' rating for Eurasian Natural Resources but has raised its price target from 670p to 850p. Royal Bank of Scotl
Read moreLondon midday: Shares still sluggish
5th Oct 2009 12:13
Equities are in sluggish mood on the first day of trading this week and the leading share index sits just below the 5,000 point level. Life insurer Aviva is the heaviest faller in the FTSE 100 after it confirmed it is to sell a minority stake in its Dutch insurance business Delta Lloyd through a fl
Read moreLondon open: Quiet start for Footsie
5th Oct 2009 08:43
London has made a cautious start with markets still seemingly unsettled by last week's US jobs data. Over here, Aviva has confirmed it is to sell a minority stake in its Dutch insurance business Delta Lloyd through a float on Euronext in Amsterdam. No more details were released, but weekend reports
Read moreLondon pre-open: Heading higher
5th Oct 2009 07:22
Expect a partial recovery from Friday's sell-off as investors, looking as higher US futures prices, continue to buy on the dips. London is set to start about 20 points higher, according to City sources, while early indications are that Wall Street will add about the same when it opens later. Over
Read moreMonday newspaper round-up: BAE Systems, HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland
5th Oct 2009 06:19
BAE Systems is prepared to settle the Serious Fraud Office's (SFO) six-year investigation into allegations of bribery in Africa and Eastern Europe, but will not do so "at any cost". The defence contractor is understood to be keen to resolve the issue, one way or the other, to draw a line under the
Read moreLondon close: Stocks finish down
2nd Oct 2009 16:33
London's leading shares closed in the red but were off earlier lows as the US recovered somewhat after a poor start. A weaker than expected jobs report had pushed US stocks deep in the red, though by midday the markets had retraced some of the losses. Over here, there was good news for home owners
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