London open: Markets flat as investors await FOMC, economic data
31st Jul 2013 09:06
Markets in the UK opened broadly flat on Wednesday morning as investors adopted a wait-and-see approach ahead of a policy announcement from the Federal Reserve. All eyes will be on the Federal Open Market Committee as its two-day meeting comes to a close this evening. While few actually think that
Read moreLondon close: Gains limited ahead of central bank decisions
30th Jul 2013 16:41
Caution ahead of a number of central-bank policy decisions kept gains on equity markets to a minimum on Tuesday, with the FTSE 100 finishing slightly higher as traders digested a barrage of corporate earnings. The outcome of the Federal Open Market Committee meeting will be in focus on Wednesday, t
Read moreLondon midday: Markets rise on earnings, Gfk data
30th Jul 2013 11:39
Markets edged higher on Tuesday morning as traders reacted to a barrage of corporate earnings and data which showed that German consumers were at their most optimistic in six years. The GfK's forward-looking consumer confidence survey for Germany rose from 6.8 to 7.0 in August, its highest levels s
Read moreLondon open: Markets higher as traders digest mixed earnings
30th Jul 2013 08:50
Strong gains for GKN, ITV, Weir and Next helped push London's FTSE 100 into positive territory on Tuesday morning, offsetting weakness from the likes of Barclays and BP. Meanwhile, markets across Europe were also doing well early on as investors reacted to upbeat earnings reports from French heavyw
Read moreSunday newspaper round-up: Barclays, Lloyds, GKN
28th Jul 2013 16:28
Barclays could announce a four billion pounds rights issue on July 30th as part of its plan to boost capital, the Financial Times and other papers reported. The bank may also issue hybrid bonds and shrink its balance sheet to meet regulatory demands for a £7bn capital shortfall. The bank reports sec
Read moreRBS fined by British regulators for reporting failures
24th Jul 2013 14:51
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has been whacked with a 5.6m pound fine by British regulators for failing to disclose details of trades handled by its investment banking division. The taxpayer-owned lender was accused of incorrectly reporting 44.8m transactions between November 2007 and February of th
Read moreWednesday newspaper round-up: RBS, AstraZeneca
24th Jul 2013 06:49
Royal Bank of Scotland is expected to announce a new Chief Executive to replace outgoing boss Stephen Hester, as early as next week, The Telegraph revealed. Two more AstraZeneca sales executives have been arrested by Chinese police in relation to nation-wide investigation into the drugmaking indus
Read moreMonday newspaper round-up: RBS, online tax, GSK
22nd Jul 2013 06:57
Royal Bank of Scotland plans to increase its market share by half over the next year in an effort to be a key player in the UK mortgage market, The Guardian reported. The government-backed lender is now granting more than one in 10 new loans. Internet retailers including Ocado, Shop Direct and Bode
Read moreSunday newspaper round-up: Portugal, Dog-funds, Invensys
21st Jul 2013 13:14
The Eurozone debt crisis threatened to erupt again this weekend, with the Portuguese government close to collapse and new tensions in Cyprus. Talks between Portugal's three main political parties on a "national salvation pact" failed late on Friday ? raising the threat of a snap election. Portuguese
Read moreBroker tips: Banks, Chemring, DCC
19th Jul 2013 11:25
Investec has downgraded its ratings for banking peer HSBC and RBS from 'buy' to 'hold' in separate research reports, reiterating its preference for rival Barclays. The broker pointed out that HSBC has marginally outperformed the FTSE 100 so far this year and now trades within just 4.0% of its 57-mo
Read moreBroker snap: Investec downgrades ratings for HSBC and RBS
19th Jul 2013 10:19
Investec has downgraded its ratings for banking peer HSBC and RBS from 'buy' to 'hold' in separate research reports, reiterating its preference for rival Barclays. HSBC Analyst Ian Gordon said that while HSBC is not overtly expensive, consensus forecasts for the dividend have "now caught up with o
Read moreLondon open: Stocks fall after gloomy figures from Microsoft, Google
19th Jul 2013 08:13
The FTSE 100 pulled back from a seven-week high on Friday morning after disappointing results from some Wall Street heavyweights last night. London's benchmark index closed at 6,634 on Thursday; the last time the index finished higher was on May 30th when it closed at 6,657. Both the S&P 500 and
Read moreIMF board backs Osborne but staff calls for capital investment
18th Jul 2013 16:12
Chancellor George Osborne's austerity measures may have received a vote of support from the executive board of the International Monetary Fund but staff at the IMF still believe he should bring forward capital spending measures. The majority of the IMF's executive board gave the thumbs up to his de
Read moreBoE says three banks hold back UK lending
18th Jul 2013 10:36
The three 'big banks' are holding back lending to British households and businesses, the Bank of England said. In its quarterly Trends in Lending report the BoE said most banks in its Funding for Lending Scheme (FLS) supplied more credit in the first quarter of the year. But three banks made big c
Read moreLondon open: Miners, financials gain ahead of BoE minutes
17th Jul 2013 08:30
Markets edged higher on Wednesday morning with strong gains in the mining and financial sectors providing a lift ahead of key announcements from central banks in the UK and US. The minutes of the latest Bank of England policy meeting are due out this morning with investors waiting to hear what Mark
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