London pre-open: Dull start in store
15th Mar 2010 07:44
London looks set to get the week off to a quiet start with City traders predicting the FTSE 100 will open around 10 points lower than it's closing level on Friday. Investment trust giant Witan’s investment performance beat its benchmark index in 2009 after calling the bottom of the market a month e
Read moreRio Tinto cleared over Chinalco deal
15th Mar 2010 07:10
Rio Tinto has been cleared of wrong doing over the collapse of its proposed tie-up with aluminium group Chinalco by an internal Chinese investigation, which instead blamed naivety, poor PR and soaring metal prices for its breakdown. Chinalco's plan to by 18% of Rio Tinto fell apart because commodit
Read moreMonday paper round-up: Barclays/Lehman, British Airways, Rio Tinto
15th Mar 2010 06:38
Further damaging revelations about the collapse of Lehman Brothers are being held up in the US courts by Barclays. A 2,200-page examiner's report into the collapse of the 158-year old institution, published last week, uncovered in forensic detail evidence that Lehman used "balance sheet manipulatio
Read moreLondon close: Miners pull index lower
11th Mar 2010 17:02
London bounced off 5,600 despite a weak start on Wall Street but still closed in the red on a poor day for miners. Falling commodity prices and China inflation concerns prompted profit taking in Fresnillo, Randgold, Rio Tinto, ENRC, Kazakhmys, BHP Billiton and Xstrata. Speculation rose that Chin
Read moreExperian non-exec improves his finances
10th Mar 2010 16:52
Experian non-executive director Roger Davis has raised just over £700,000 from the sale of shares in the credit checking firm. Davis sold 110,199 shares at 638.5p each. This leaves him with 110,000 shares in Experian. Davis joined the Experian board at the beginning of 2007. He has an army backg
Read moreFriday paper round-up: HSBC, Scottish & Southern, ITV
5th Mar 2010 06:33
The supertax on bank bonuses will reap more than £2.5bn for the Treasury, giving the UK government an unexpectedly large windfall to spend ahead of the general election, a Financial Times survey of 16 global banks has found. Government insiders predict that the receipts of £2.5bn would exceed by ab
Read moreChairman's wife buys Redrow shares
2nd Mar 2010 16:33
Redrow chairman Steve Morgan's wife has bought 100,000 shares in the housebuilder taking their combined stake to 29.95%. Fiona Morgan paid 131.5p a share for the 100,000 shares. The total cost was £131,500. Morgan founded Redrow in 1974 and floated the company 20 years later. He also owns Wolver
Read moreLondon close: Strong finish for FTSE 100
1st Mar 2010 16:30
The leading share index finished on a strong footing as strength in the mining sector and gains on the back of company updates helped offset a weak performance from financial stocks. Miners were in demand following a rise in copper prices following the earthquake in Chile, the world's number one p
Read moreSector movers: Miners on the march
1st Mar 2010 14:55
Miners are in demand following a rise in copper prices after the earthquake in Chile, the world's number one producer of the red metal. The earthquake shut down up to a fifth of the South American country's copper mining operations, but mines have already resumed operations. Kazakhmys, Fresnillo,
Read moreLondon afternoon: Copper-bottomed advance
1st Mar 2010 14:15
Gains on mining stocks are more than offsetting losses in an insurance sector that has been rocked by the prospect of a huge rights call from Prudential. Confirmation that Pru may pay $35bn (£23bn) for the Asian business of troubled US insurer AIG has unsettled the insurers. Any deal would need to
Read moreRio Tinto ups stake in Ivanhoe Mines
1st Mar 2010 07:07
Mining giant Rio Tinto is buying another slug of shares in Canadian mining company Ivanhoe Mines. Rio is paying C$244.7m for 15 million Ivanhoe shares at C$16.31 each to increase its stake in the company to 22.4% from 19.7%. The transaction is a follow-on from a deal inked in 2008 when Rio Tinto l
Read moreLondon close: Blue chips surge forward
26th Feb 2010 16:52
Footsie surged forward and closed in buoyant mood as buyers returned across a number of sectors despite disappointment with Lloyds Banking's results. Serco remains the best performer among Footsie stocks. The outsourcing group increased the dividend by a quarter as it ramped up profits by almost a
Read moreLondon afternoon: Stocks belcamed at higher levels
26th Feb 2010 14:23
Leading shares traded sideways over the lunchtime session, lacking any sort of lead from Wall Street, which is expected to open mixed as traders struggle through the snow storm engulfing New York to get into work. Serco remains the best performer among Footsie stocks. The outsourcing group increase
Read moreLondon midday:Stocks off the top
26th Feb 2010 12:22
Hopes that Footsie would claw back all of yesterday's losses look less likely to be realised after share prices came off the top late in the morning, though most stocks are still trading in positive territory. Serco remains the best performer among Footsie stocks. The outsourcing group increased t
Read moreLondon open: Footsie makes bright start
26th Feb 2010 08:50
London's blue chips have made a bright start after the late pick-up on Wall Street overnight, even though there is some disappointment with the figures from Lloyds Banking. The state-controlled bank joined sector peers Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland in reporting better than expected figures.
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