London afternoon: Miners and banks lead the advance
12th Jan 2011 14:35
Footsie is continuing to keep its head above water, not to mention 6,000, but it is largely thanks to the strength of miners and financial stocks, with the latter in demand after Portugal's bond auction proved relatively successful. HSBC is the best performing financial, helped by a "buy" recommend
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Vedanta deal could get clearance
12th Jan 2011 13:14
Miners and financials dominate the risers. The Indian oil minister says that he does not see a problem with Vedanta's acquisition of assets from Cairn Energy. It could be cleared by the end of the month. HSBC appears to still be benefiting from Citigroup raising it from hold to buy yesterday.
Read moreLondon midday: Stocks add more gains
12th Jan 2011 12:07
Miners continue to keep the FTSE 100 in the blue, adding to yesterday's gains, while three stocks in the FTSE 250 are posting triple-digit gains. Supermarket giant J Sainsbury had its best Christmas ever, with better than expected sales, a growing market share and a record number of customers desp
Read moreLondon open: Early gains for blue chips
12th Jan 2011 08:50
London has pushed on again in early dealings with miners leading the way and a mixed morning so far for retailers. Supermarket giant J Sainsbury had its best Christmas ever, with better than expected sales, a growing market share and a record number of customers despite the snow. Like for like sa
Read moreLondon pre-open: Mixed start seen
12th Jan 2011 07:35
After yesterday's solid showing London looks to be in consolidation mode with City traders predicting the Footsie will open little changed from last night's close. Supermarket giant Sainsbury had its best Christmas ever, with better than expected sales, a growing market share and a record number of
Read moreRecord Christmas for Sainsbury's
12th Jan 2011 07:00
Supermarket giant Sainsbury's had its best Christmas ever, with better than expected third quarter sales, a growing market share and a record number of customers despite the snow. Like for like sales excluding fuel rose 3.6% in the 14 weeks to 8 January, or 5.4% including petrol, while total sales
Read moreWednesday newspaper round-up: J Sainsbury, Oil exploration, Bob Diamond...
12th Jan 2011 06:37
J Sainsbury has overtaken Asda as Britain's second-largest supermarket, seven years after it lost the position. Industry figures yesterday revealed that a strong Christmas performance by the London-based grocer enabled it to overtake its Leeds rival, capping a dismal 2010 for Asda. Sainsbury's sha
Read moreSainsbury's commercial director goes shopping
11th Jan 2011 17:51
Sainsbury's commercial director Michael Coupe has taken a big chunk of shares ahead of the supermarket operator's trading statement tomorrow. He took 8,621 shares at 390.53 a time, spending nearly £34,000, and now has 798,285. News of the purchase, which was made last week, comes as data from mar
Read moreWednesday preview: Sainsbury, N. Brown, Barratt Devs.
11th Jan 2011 16:51
It has been hard to keep retailers out of the spotlight this week and Wednesday is no exception, with supermarket Tesco and home shopping specialist N. Brown due to give trading updates. Morrisons set the benchmark for the supermarket sector on Monday with a better than expected 1% growth in like f
Read moreSupermarkets to create thousands of jobs
10th Jan 2011 14:12
Supermarkets group Sainsbury said it is to create 20,000 new permanent and part-time jobs over the next three years, the bulk of them in the north of England and in Scotland. Historically, Sainsbury has had a stronger presence in the south of England but the company is planning to beef up its prese
Read moreLondon close: FTSE 100 hits 6,000
23rd Dec 2010 16:37
It was a quiet the markets on the last full day of trading before Christmas, but the top share index's attempt to inch past the 6,000 point mark proved an exciting spectacle. A final push ensured that symbolically important feat was achieved, but FTSE 100 closed just below that level, last seen in
Read moreLondon afternoon: Stocks come off the top
23rd Dec 2010 14:24
Footsie's assault on 6,000 has run out of steam and the blue-chip index is now barely holding on to gains. Mortgage lending fell to a 20-month low in November new figures from the British Bankers' Association (BBA) show, underlining the weakness the housing market is currently experiencing. Oil pr
Read moreLondon midday: Stubborn FTSE 100 stays below 6,000
23rd Dec 2010 12:08
Domestic economic data has failed to jolt the top share index into life, but a raft of data from the US could trigger a move above 6,000 points later this afternoon. Mortgage lending fell to a 20-month low in November new figures from the British Bankers' Association (BBA) show, underlining the wea
Read moreLondon open: Assault on 6,000 begins
23rd Dec 2010 08:15
Blue chips have had a first stab at hitting the magic 6,000 level following gains in the US overnight and are regrouping after falling just one point short. Insurer Old Mutual is among the early winners, followed by Sainsbury's and Kingfisher, but ARM is giving back a little of yesterday's big gain
Read moreSnow stops supermarket deliveries in Scotland
13th Dec 2010 12:04
Snow in Scotland has forced supermarket giants Tesco and Sainsbury's to stop taking online orders from customers north of the border. "We apologise for any inconvenience, but unfortunately we are currently unable to take any new orders in Scotland & the Scottish Isles," reads a statement on the Tes
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