London afternoon: Banks and miners retreat
25th Jun 2009 14:27
Leading equities drift lower in the afternoon session, led by banks and miners. Asia-focused bank Standard Chartered eases back, despite enjoying record income and operating profit in the first five months of this year. Some of this success has been offset by weakness in consumer banking, however,
Read moreLondon midday: Prices drift lower
25th Jun 2009 12:13
Shares continue to drift lower despite expectations of a firm start on Wall Street. Asia-focused bank Standard Chartered eases back, despite enjoying record income and operating profit in the first five months of this year. Some of this success has been offset by weakness in consumer banking, howe
Read moreTechnical Analysis: Miners rally off support
24th Jun 2009 16:31
Commodity prices continue to slide lower on the back of doubts over the sustainability of the economic recovery. The LMEX base metal index, which I referred to last week, has continued to fall and bounced off its long term support line on Monday. The subsequent rally in mining stocks has been the
Read moreConsolidation rumours buoy Anglo
24th Jun 2009 13:57
Consolidation rumours are rife in the mining sector following reports that Xstrata's merger approach to rival Anglo American has alerted Chinalco and Brazil's Vale to the possibility of gatecrashing the party. Anglo American flatly rejected Swiss-based Xstrata's merger approach on Monday, but rumou
Read moreAnglo American leaps on Xstrata approach
22nd Jun 2009 12:15
Anglo American, the world's largest platinum miner, rallied as much as 12% Monday as Switzerland-based rival Xstrata made public a £41bn bid approach. But the proposed tie-up has received a lukewarm response from the London-based, but South African dominated Anglo. Investors sold off Xstrata. In
Read moreSector movers: Miners hit by lower commodity prices
17th Jun 2009 15:23
A sharp turn around in commodity prices has seen the mining sector go into reverse as profit-taking on the rises of the last few weeks starts to kick in. Elsewhere in the sector, China has warned Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton that merging their Pilbara, Australia iron ore operations has "a strong mono
Read moreTechnical Analysis: Miners out of favour
17th Jun 2009 13:28
A sharp turn around in commodity prices has seen the mining sector go into reverse since the beginning of the month, as profit-taking on the rises of the last few weeks starts to kick in. The LMEX base metal index has dropped from a peak of 2555.1 on the 11th June to close at 2,386.6 Tuesday night
Read moreChina may review Rio/BHP "monopoly"
17th Jun 2009 12:55
China has warned Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton that merging their Pilbara, Australia iron ore operations has "a strong monopolistic flavour". BHP-Rio together would account for 80% of Australia's exports of the ore, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce spokesman said this week. China is a huge importer of
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Sainsbury's unsettled by placing
17th Jun 2009 12:52
Two broker upgrades in the last four days continue to keep BT bubbling higher. Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley both raised their ratings on the back of hopes that global services may be over the worst. J Sainsbury is the main news mover today. It is raising £242m through a placing at 310p and a
Read moreLondon close: Footsie clings to gains
16th Jun 2009 16:39
London's benchmark index finished just above flat, reversing earlier gains, as Wall Street started in a lacklustre fashion. Tesco's first quarter trading update was well received. Like-for-like (LFL) sales growth came in at the top end of expectations, helped by a resumption of growth in non-food
Read moreLondon close: Triple digit fall for Footsie
15th Jun 2009 17:09
Footsie suffered a triple digit fall today with virtually all blue-chip stocks except defensive favourites such as utilities having their foot jammed hard down on the reverse pedal. Resource stocks led the decline as metals and oil prices moved lower. Platinum miner Lonmin was the weakest stock in
Read moreLondon afternoon: Prices steady at lower levels
15th Jun 2009 14:32
The market moved sideways over the lunch-time session, with the Footsie remaining deep on the red, despite a more upbeat assessment of the economy's prospects from the CBI. The employers' organisation reckons the UK could be out of recession by the end of the year, but any better sentiment was almo
Read moreLondon midday: Dollar rise knocks resource stocks
15th Jun 2009 12:04
London had a difficult morning despite a more upbeat assessment of the economy's prospects from the CBI. The employers' organisation reckons the UK could be out of recession by the end of the year, but any better sentiment was almost immediately squashed by the IMF saying the opposite. It believes
Read moreSector movers: Miners hit hardest
15th Jun 2009 11:01
It's a sea of red Monday as Mining heads a widespread sell-off. Lonmin has lost over 7% after shutting down its Number One furnace. The platinum miner's initial estimate is that a full repair could take around 30 days Rivals joined the retreat as metal prices tanked. Rio Tinto, Xstrata, Eurasian N
Read moreLondon open: Weak start for blue chips
15th Jun 2009 08:37
London's blue chips have fallen sharply with the miners taking the biggest hit. Platinum miner Lonmin leads the fallers after it shut down its Number One furnace. The group's initial estimate is that a full repair of the vessel is likely to take around 30 days. Other miners are also under pressure
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