London open: Footsie strongly ahead
1st Jul 2009 08:50
It is all blue this morning so far with demand for miners adding to well received trading statements from Marks & Spencer and International Power. Bus and rail group National Express is the big story. It has handed back the East Coast franchise after failing to renegotiate terms. The service will n
Read moreTuesday newspaper round-up: Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds, Candover
30th Jun 2009 06:13
Neelie Kroes, the European Union competition commissioner, is on Tuesday set to warn UK banks for a second time within a week that they may have to make disposals as a condition for the granting of state aid. Ms Kroes's tough message to the British Bankers' Association conference emphasises the ha
Read moreLondon close: Stocks finish in the red
26th Jun 2009 16:25
London's leading shares finished in the red by close as Wall Street remained in negative territory. Insurer were down with Friends Provident, Prudential and Legal & General lower while miners Eurasian Natural Resources, Rio Tinto and Vedanta were also down. The banks are in a healthier condition
Read moreLondon afternoon: Footsie in red
26th Jun 2009 14:13
London has slipped into negative territory, led by insurers and some wayward miners, while Wall Street is seen starting lower. Friends Provident, Prudential and Legal & General are among the biggest fallers, joined by Eurasian Natural Resources, Rio Tinto and Vedanta. The banks are in a healthier
Read moreLondon close: Late rally not enough
25th Jun 2009 17:01
A late rally by UK equities was not enough to prevent the blue-chip index closing in negative territory, largely as a result of weak miners, which were weighted down by softer metals prices. Lonmin, Vedanta, Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton were all stuck in the red. Elsewhere in the sector, Anglo Americ
Read moreLondon 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
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