London close: Late decline wipes out gains
18th Dec 2009 16:43
Footsie ended lower having spent most of the day in positive territory. Financials led the market down and cruise operator Carnival's lower quarterly profit did not help. Most of the miners ended the day higher but they lost some of their earlier gains. Having been hit hard yesterday following the
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Miners decouple from dollar
18th Dec 2009 14:47
Kazakhmys, Antofagasta, BHP Billiton, Vedanta and Xstrata are the best of a generally buoyant mining sector, which had been weak recently as the dollar has rallied against the euro. The best performing blue-chip is knee and hip joint supplier Smith & Nephew after UBS bumped up its price target for
Read moreLondon afternoon: Stocks in consolidation mode
18th Dec 2009 14:21
Blue-chips moved sideways over the lunch-time session, consolidating the morning's gains. Goldman Sachs has given a lift to the oil sector, tipping BP as the 'clear winner' among oil companies next year, though it also rates UK operators BG and Royal Dutch Shell over their continental European coun
Read moreGFS directors secure gains
11th Nov 2009 16:01
Nick Buckles and Trevor Dighton, the chief executive and finance director respectively of security group G4S, have both doubled their money through share sales. Buckles and Dighton took up shares via options at varying exercise prices. Buckles spent nearly £1.1m on additional shares and immediatel
Read moreLondon close: Shares shake off US blues
6th Nov 2009 17:15
The Footsie finished a see-saw day in positive territory, shrugging off concerns about the worse than expected US jobless figures, which revealed the US unemployment rate has risen above the 10% level. Banks enjoyed a day in the sun, helped by a positive response to results from Royal Bank of Scotl
Read moreLondon afternoon: Stocks slide on US jobless news
6th Nov 2009 14:04
Leading shares are retreating rapidly in the wake of worse than expected US non-farm payrolls data. October non-farm payrolls data showed the US unemployment rate rose to 10.2% from 9.8% in September. The number of jobs lost in October was 190,000, versus expectations of 175,000 job losses. So fa
Read moreLondon midday: Financials lead advance
6th Nov 2009 12:04
Banks and property stocks are leading the market higher, though the advance is being conducted at a leisurely pace. More huge write-offs sent Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) deep into loss over the past three months. Nine-month losses now total £2.06bn against a profit £1.8bn this time last year. Des
Read moreLondon open: Flat start ahead of payroll figures
6th Nov 2009 08:37
London's top stocks have made a cautious start as investors reflect on more huge losses at British Airways and Royal Bank of Scotland. Later today the keenly watched US monthly non-farm payroll figures also come out. British Airways reported a record loss of £292m and urged Unite to withdraw its p
Read moreSmith & Nephew profits sprint ahead
6th Nov 2009 07:35
Smith & Nephew's pre-tax profit jumped 45% in the third quarter and the knee and hip joint supplier expects a good outcome for the full year. Pre-tax profit for the three months to 26 September grew to $173m from $119m a year ago, lifting it to $495m for the nine months from $402m in 2008. Trading
Read moreLondon close: Sainsbury leads retreat
7th Oct 2009 17:03
After yesterday's 2.26% gain on the Footsie the blue-chip index took a small step backwards today, with half an eye on the US market where the third quarter results season is about to get underway. Supermarket chain Sainsbury was the worst performing blue-chip as sales growth figures disappointed.
Read moreSector movers: S&N downgrade hurts healthcare equipment stocks
7th Oct 2009 15:20
Smith & Nephew is leading the health care equipment sector lower after the broker UBS downgraded the hip and knee specialist to 'neutral' from 'buy.' UBS is worried about tightening health budgets in the US. Carphone Warehouse, whose second quarter trading statement is due tomorrow, is helping lift
Read moreLondon afternoon: Weak Wall St. undermines Footsie
7th Oct 2009 14:48
A soft opening by Wall Street prompted London's blue chips to take a step back, though plenty of firm features are still to be found. Supermarket Sainsbury's is off a few points after a 4.6% rise in like-for-like sales excluding fuel in the quarter to 3 October came in lower than expected. Exclud
Read moreSunday tips round-up: Smith & Nephew, Chesnara, Coal of Africa
4th Oct 2009 11:31
Among US health care proposals under consideration is a possible $4bn (£2.5bn) annual tax on companies that produce medical products. This could dock around 11% off earnings at Smith & Nephew, which makes artificial hips and knees and does some 45% of its business in the US. The case for buying Smi
Read moreSainsbury's new chair Tyler opens account
17th Sep 2009 16:29
New Sainsbury's chairman David Tyler wasted no time in opening his account, snapping up £167,000 of shares in the supermarket chain today. The former finance boss of GUS, who joins the board at the start of next month and becomes chairman on 1 November, paid 334.3p each for 50,000 shares. Tyler ta
Read moreLondon close: Footsie nears 52-week high
16th Sep 2009 17:03
London raced ahead today, with the FTSE 100 crashing through the 5100 barrier near to a 12-month high, though it stopped short of racking up a triple-digit rise. Mining stocks were responsible for a large proportion of the index's rise as metals prices headed north following comments from Federal
Read more