London midday: FTSE 100 declines on surprise construction slowdown
4th Aug 2015 12:21
(ShareCast News) - The FTSE 100 continued its slide as investors weighed earnings, mixed news from Greece and a worse-than-expected report on the UK construction sector. The Markit/CIPS purchasing mangers' index on UK construction activity fell to 57.1 in July from 58.1 a month earlier, missing fore
Read moreStandard Life disappoints below the line despite dividend hike
4th Aug 2015 09:13
(ShareCast News) - Standard Life delivered a better dividend than was expected but this was not enough to impress investors as several one-off charges took the sheen off half-year results from the life company-turned-asset manager. Profit after tax fell 64% to £69m as the company took hits of £46m f
Read moreBerenberg cuts Standard Life to 'sell', says cost base too high
16th Jul 2015 14:40
(ShareCast News) - Berenberg downgraded shares of Standard Life from 'hold' to 'sell,' saying its cost base remains too high. The bank retained a price target for the stock of 400p. Shares in Standard Life were trading 0.54% lower to 462.80p as of 1352 BST. Berenberg estimated 10% earnings per shar
Read moreBroker tips: Standard Life, Prudential, Lonmin, Miners
10th Jul 2015 14:02
(ShareCast News) - Shares in insurers Prudential and Standard Life got a lift from Barclays, as it upgraded price targets on both stocks in its latest note on European insurance. The bank increased Prudential's target to 1,889p from 1,877p, pointing to the company's earnings on 11 August, which will
Read morePrudential and Standard Life boosted by Barclays note
10th Jul 2015 12:54
(ShareCast News) - Shares in insurers Prudential and Standard Life got a lift from Barclays, as it upgraded price targets on both stocks in its latest note on European insurance. The bank increased Prudential's target to 1,889p from 1,877p, pointing to the company's earnings on 11 August, which will
Read moreGoldman Sachs expects rethink on bank levy in UK Budget
7th Jul 2015 12:43
Ahead of Chancellor George Osborne's Budget on Wednesday, here's a round-up of what Goldman Sachs expects. For UK banks, attention will be focused on any potential reform of the bank levy, as Osborne did not discuss it in his Mansion House speech in June, despite prior speculation. Goldman does not
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Travel stocks rebound, but supermarkets dip on Kantar data
30th Jun 2015 13:06
UK stocks extended losses on Tuesday, as the recovery in travel stocks was offset by weakness in supermarkets and miners. As of 14:30 BST, the FTSE 100 was trading 0.6% lower at 6,583. Travel stocks including TUI, Easyjet and IAG rebounded from Monday's losses, which followed disruption to tourism
Read moreLondon midday: Stocks pare losses as investors hope for last-minute Greek deal
30th Jun 2015 11:05
UK stocks were trading in the red again on Tuesday, but had bounced off their lows by lunchtime as investors digested the latest news flow from Greece. The FTSE 100 was trading 0.6% lower at 6,583.15 by midday, having bounced off an intraday low of 6,540.52 early on. The index has not closed below t
Read moreBroker tips: HSBC, Compass, Foxtons, Standard Life
30th Jun 2015 10:37
Goldman Sachs has removed banking giant HSBC from its 'conviction buy' list and cut its recommendation on the stock to 'neutral', slashing its target price from 760p to 690p. Goldman said its investment case on HSBC was predicated on a strategic shift towards geographic streamlining and meaningful i
Read moreRBC Capital downgrades Standard Life to ''underperform'
30th Jun 2015 09:41
RBC Capital Markets downgraded Standard Life to 'underperform' from 'sector perform' and cut the price target to 430p from 480p. "A comparison with asset managers indicates to us that Standard Life is relatively expensive and not worthy of its current 16.3x price-to-earnings multiple. We see its mai
Read moreLondon close: FTSE sinks to five-month low as final act of Greek drama unfolds
29th Jun 2015 16:54
Heavy falls in the travel, tourism and financial sectors prompted a 2% plunge on the FTSE 100 on Monday as investor sentiment was hammered by concerns about the future of Greece and the wider Eurozone. The FTSE 100 finished 133.22 points lower (-1.97%) at 6,620.48 by the end of the session, its lowe
Read moreLondon pre-open: Stocks to pull back after failed Greek talks
25th Jun 2015 07:46
UK stocks were expected to decline on Thursday morning after five straight days of gains, after another meeting between Greece and its creditors ended in a deadlock. City sources predict the FTSE 100 open 15 points lower than Wednesday's close of 6,844.80. "European equities are set to slide on th
Read moreStandard Life to close Singapore insurance business
25th Jun 2015 07:09
Standard Life said on Thursday that it will close its insurance business in Singapore, subject to regulatory approvals, and the business will no longer accept new applications or contributions to existing plans with immediate effect. The closure will give rise to a non-operating loss in the order of
Read moreLondon midday: Hikma, COLT lead stocks higher despite Greek negativity
19th Jun 2015 11:25
UK stocks advanced on Friday as investors shrugged off a disappointing end to the Eurogroup meeting on Greece, and instead sought out bargains following the recent sell-off. The FTSE 100, which dropped to levels not seen since January earlier in the week, was trading up 0.54% at 6,744.20 by midday.
Read moreLondon open: Stocks shrug off Greek woes, Hikma and COLT surge
19th Jun 2015 08:29
UK stocks edged higher on Friday morning despite a bleak outcome to the Eurogroup meeting, as finance minsters failed to come up with proposals to solve the Greek debt crisis. However, given that expectations were low going into Thursday's meeting, disappointment may have already been priced in, ana
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