Aldi set to create 35,000 jobs as part of UK expansion
10th Nov 2014 15:48
Discount supermarket chain Aldi has announced it intends to create some 35,000 new jobs in the UK. On Monday, the German firm unveiled plans for a £600m investment, which would see the number of stores across the country doubled to 1,000. "This includes plans to create at least one apprenticeship p
Read moreMonday broker round-up
10th Nov 2014 15:34
RBS: Nomura reiterates reduce but lifts target price to 370p from 360p. IAG: Liberum reiterates buy, maintaining 550p target. Royal Dutch Shell: JP Morgan reiterates overweight stance but cuts target to 2,500p from 2,700p. Aveva: Westhouse Securities reiterates add and its target price of 1,780p.
Read moreSector movers: Sainsbury drops, but Tesco lifts supermarket sector higher
10th Nov 2014 14:51
Shares in J Sainsbury were in the red on Monday but the wider UK food and drug retail sector was the best-performing category on the back of gains from much larger rival Tesco. Tesco, the largest retailer in the UK with a market capitalisation of around £15.7bn, was trading nearly 4.7% higher at 193
Read moreLondon midday: Mining stocks push FTSE 100 to five-week high, Serco drops
10th Nov 2014 11:27
UK stocks started the new trading week on the front foot with mining shares resilient despite some mixed economic data from China overnight. However, Serco was the standout mover with the FTSE 250 outsourcing stock losing as much as a third of its value after a profit warning and proposed rights iss
Read moreSunday newspaper round-up: Tesco, Sainsbury, Standard Chartered
9th Nov 2014 13:59
Challenger banks Tesco Bank and Virgin Money are leading a drive to make banks charge for so-called free current accounts. They told the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) that it should force through such a requirement to enhance competition and avoid the potentially misleading impression for
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Retailers Marks & Spencer and Morrisons lead gains
6th Nov 2014 15:23
Shares of Marks & Spencer were registering sharp gains for a second day on Thursday as analysts at Deutsche Bank, Citi and UBS all upgraded their price targets on the stock. The shares gapped higher at the start of trading, pushing the stock further above its 200-day moving average, according to ana
Read moreSector movers: Supermarket stocks advance as Morrisons shares jump
6th Nov 2014 14:30
Supermarket shares surged on Thursday after third-quarter results from Wm Morrison were warmly-received, sending the food and drug retail sector firmly to the top of the pile on London's stock market. Morrisons' share price was up 7.6% at 174.8p in afternoon trade after the company reported improvin
Read moreLondon midday: UK retailers rise on Morrison results, but markets flat ahead of ECB
6th Nov 2014 11:44
The London stock market was more or less flat by Thursday lunchtime, erasing earlier losses after a well-received update from Morrison's boosted shares in the retail sector. However, upside was being limited ahead of a number of risk events expected before the weekend, including a European Central B
Read moreLondon open: UK stocks fall ahead of policy decisions from BoE and ECB
6th Nov 2014 08:28
A flurry of blue-chip company announcements and upcoming policy decisions by the Bank of England (BoE) and European Central Bank (ECB) kept investors cautious on Thursday morning, with UK stocks trading in the red early on. The FTSE 100 was down 0.3% at 6,517, having jumped 1.3% to the previous sess
Read moreLondon close: Shares tread water after central banks sit tight
6th Nov 2014 08:25
A lack of action by Europe's central banks left London shares treading water on Thursday, although supermarkets provided a boost. The European Central Bank left its base rate unchanged at 0.05% but addressed fears about the lacklustre Eurozone economy by saying policymakers would take more action on
Read moreNetto UK relaunch intensifies competition in grocery sector
6th Nov 2014 08:16
Discount grocer Netto has re-launched in the UK on Thursday with Sainsbury's joint venture with Danske, the chain's Danish owner, opening five stores in northern England in November to turn up the intensity on an already white-hot supermarket sector. An initial store in Leeds, the first Netto store
Read moreFuel companies should lower UK prices, says government
6th Nov 2014 06:46
Chief secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander has demanded that fuel companies lower their prices in response to the recent falls in the cost of oil. Addressing the Highlands & Islands Branch of The Energy Institute in Aberdeen on Thursday, he will say that people will "rightly be angry" if they a
Read moreLondon close: Weak Eurozone manufacturing data drag shares lower
3rd Nov 2014 15:24
Weak European manufacturing data dragged London shares lower on Monday despite a rise in the sector's fortunes in the UK. The Eurozone Markit manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) for October fell to 50.6 from 50.7 previously with both Germany and Italy declining while France improved sligh
Read moreSectors: Tech sentiment improves
29th Oct 2014 14:23
Improving sentiment towards technology companies saw the electronic and electrical equipment sector top the leaderboards in London on Wednesday. Although earnings reports from tech giants stateside have been mixed, with Apple and Facebook pleasing but Amazon and Twitter disappointing, interest in sm
Read moreTesco biggest sales loser in last three months, says Nielsen
24th Oct 2014 12:23
There was more bad news for Tesco on Friday after new figures showed it was the industry's biggest sales loser in the last three months. Tesco's sales in the 12 weeks to 11 October dropped 5.2% against the same period a year ago, while Morrisons dipped 2.1% and Sainsbury was off 2%, according to
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