London midday: Markets show caution ahead of Budget

21st Mar 2012 11:32

- Budget to commence shortly - MPC votes unanimously on rates, divided on asset purchases - Wolseley, Serco, Vodafone advance after broker upgrades After a strong start, UK stocks pared early gains ahead of the upcoming 2012 Budget announcement expected shortly from the Chancellor of the Exchequer,

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Wednesday broker round-up - UPDATE

21st Mar 2012 09:16

Bovis Homes: UBS lifts target from 395p to 465p, sell rating kept. Cairn Energy: UBS cuts target from 370p to 365p, neutral rating unchanged. Debenhams: Citigroup upgrades from hold to buy, target upped from 65p to 85p. Lamprell: Nomura raises target from 265p to 430p, buy rating kept. Logica: S

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London open: Stocks rise ahead of Budget

21st Mar 2012 08:48

- Budget expected at 12:30 - Retailers rise, Sainsbury in demand - Serco upgraded by HSBC, Morgan Stanley The Footsie was bouncing back in early trading on Wednesday, following a steep fall the day before as fears about a slowdown in Chinese economic growth fuelled a sell-off in the mining sector.

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Another director dealing for Dunelm; AZ Electronic tech officer makes sale

8th Mar 2012 15:35

Donna Wharton, wife of Nick Wharton, the Chief Executive of homewares firm Dunelm, has topped up her stake in the company with 9,500 shares. Wharton's purchase, which saw her buy the shares at 480.00p each for a total of £45,600, came just a day after Will Adderley, Executive Deputy Chairman, anno

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London midday: Stocks edge higher, markets await Greek debt-swap

7th Mar 2012 11:25

- Admiral jumps 11% as outlook improves. - BATS, CRH, Serco down after going ex-dividend. - Markets await the Greek debt-swap deadline. Following a shaky start, London's FTSE 100 index looked to have found its direction by midday, trading three tenths of a percent point higher following the sell-of

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London open: Ex-div stocks offset a surging Admiral

7th Mar 2012 08:34

- Admiral surges 11 percent on full-year results. - Ex-div stocks provide a drag. - Greek debt-swap deadline looms. Following the 2.8 percent tumble over the last three days, the Footsie opened broadly flat on Wednesday ahead of tomorrow's deadline for the Greek debt-swap. A surge in the share pric

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Tuesday broker round-up - UPDATE

6th Mar 2012 09:20

Serco: Credit Suisse lifts target price to 650p from 600p, remains at outperform. Capita: Credit Suisse revises target to 820p from 770p, retains outperform. Wolseley: UBS downgrades from buy to hold. Pace: Peel Hunt upgrades from hold to buy, raises target to 99p from 75p. International Power

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London close: Miners lead the decline as China cuts GDP forecast

5th Mar 2012 16:36

- Chinese growth forecasts dampens miners. - UK and Eurozone PMIs disappoint. - Steering Committee to participate in Greek debt swap. London's blue chip index fell to its lowest level of the day on Monday as concerns over the global economy dampened the mood. Miners bore the brunt of the sell-off i

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Monday broker round-up - UPDATE

5th Mar 2012 09:03

Weir: Citi cuts to sell from neutral, shaves target to 1,850p from 1,950p. Morrison: Oriel downgrades to sell from reduce. Tesco: Oriel downgrades to reduce from hold. Sainsbury: Oriel downgrades to hold from add. Serco: Bank of America downgrades to neutral from buy. Afren: Credit Suisse rais

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London close: Stocks finish higher after volatile session

28th Feb 2012 17:08

- Ireland to hold referendum on fiscal compact. - US economic data comes in mixed. - GKN leads fallers after full-year results. The Footsie finished just 0.2 percent higher on Tuesday as losses over lunchtime were pared in the afternoon with stocks seesawing on some mixed economic data in the US. S

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FTSE 100 movers: GKN drops despite hiking divi

28th Feb 2012 14:49

Automotive and aerospace engineer GKN dropped into the bottom spot despite hiking its total dividend by a fifth after seeing double-digit growth in both sales and profits in 2011. The group did report a subdued performance in GKN Aerospace as it has struggled with governments' defence spending remai

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London midday: Footsie edges higher, GKN tumbles

28th Feb 2012 11:48

-Footsie trade within narrow range, edges 0.2% higher. -GKN, Whitbread, Serco disappoint after results/updates. -Persimmon jumps 13% after announcing cash return. London's FTSE 100 index held on to moderate gains by lunchtime, after having traded within a narrow range of just 19 points in the morni

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London open: Banks, miners provide a lift early on

28th Feb 2012 08:38

- Banks, miners rise strongly. - GKN drops after full-year results. - Persimmon surges after handing back cash to shareholders. The FTSE 100 opened higher on Tuesday, despite a negative reaction to statements from GKN, Whitbread and Serco, as banks and miners rose strongly following yesterday's bac

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London pre-open: German agreement boosts sentiment

28th Feb 2012 07:27

City sources predict the FTSE 100 will open up 9 points from yesterday's close of 5,916, with Germany's agreement to the Greek bailout package providing a boost to investor sentiment. In companies, last year was a record breaking year on many fronts for Rotork with the valve engineering group set

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US slow-down a concern at Serco

28th Feb 2012 07:11

Outsourcing giant Serco made play of the increasing importance of overseas markets to its revenue stream in its 2011 results but it is the US market that is putting the frighteners on shareholders. The group, which operates the bike hire scheme and the Docklands Light Railway in London, said 2011 w

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