London midday: Footsie still in the red
25th Aug 2009 11:54
Despite threatening to move back into positive territory an hour ago, the Footsie has slid further back down into the red. Miners are still heavily weak with seven out of the top ten losers so far from the sector. Kazakhmys, Xstrata, Antofagasta, Eurasian Natural Resources, Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton
Read moreLondon close: Stocks in late surge
18th Aug 2009 16:36
A late rally driven by early gains in the US had London back up at session highs, with gains among financial plays easily offsetting a weaker property sector. Investors overcame disappointing US housing starts data that had the blue chip index struggling at session lows mid-afternoon. The annual ra
Read moreFriday tips round-up: Tomkins, Thomas Cook, Greencore
14th Aug 2009 06:49
Tomkins could yet prove to be a good recovery play. And if the shares drift back down to more realistic levels over the coming weeks we would be more interested. The next couple of quarters will be the crucial ones, but at the moment these shares have gone far enough. Cash in and sell says the Indep
Read moreStobart bosses pocket £5m
7th Aug 2009 17:24
Two directors at Stobart walked off with a combined total of £5m today as they trimmed their stakes in the transport and logistics group. Chief executive Andrew Tinkler sold 3.65m shares at 100p a time and now about 30.5m shares, just over 12% of the company. William Stobart, chief operating offic
Read moreLondon close: Footsie finishes just down
4th Aug 2009 16:33
London staged a late rally but still finished just in the red as financials weighed and the US started in tepid fashion. Asia-focused bank Standard Chartered was the biggest faller of the day after saying it is to raise £1bn through a placing. It posted solid first half figures with profits up by 1
Read moreLondon afternoon: Footsie has rare down day
4th Aug 2009 15:02
Footsie is having a poor day with financial and miners weak and a flat start to trading on Wall Street. Insurer Legal & General set the downbeat tone by slashing its interim dividend by 45% after posting a loss of £1bn on a European embedded value (EEV) basis. The half-year dividend has been cut t
Read moreStandard Chartered places shares at 1,360p
4th Aug 2009 14:12
Standard Chartered has placed 75m shares at £13.60 each, raising £1.02bn for the Asia-focused bank. The company announced its plans earlier today alongside a solid first half that saw profits increase by 10% despite a sharp rise in bad debt charges. JP Morgan Cazenove and UBS completed the acceler
Read moreLondon midday: Dull morning for Footsie
4th Aug 2009 12:03
Stocks remain stuck in the red after a poor morning session with shares undermined by miners slipping back and financials under pressure. Insurer Legal & General set the tone, by slashing its interim dividend by 45% after posting a loss of £1bn on a European embedded value (EEV) basis. The half-yea
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: L&G slumps on dividend cut
4th Aug 2009 11:49
Life Insurance is worst of the bunch after Legal & General reported after a 92% plunge in operating profit and a 45% cut in the dividend. European embedded value (EEV) operating profit rose 12% to £657m for the six months to 30 June, up from £589m a year ago, but it slumped to £31m from £391m on an
Read moreTechnical Analysis Snap: StanChart dips despite beating expectations
4th Aug 2009 10:05
Despite reporting a 36% increase in half year profits in its wholesale banking unit, and an increase in net income, above market estimates, Standard Chartered's share price has started to trade lower. Investors have started to take profits after the announcement of a $1.7bn share sale. Coming as
Read moreLondon opening: FTSE 100 opens lower
4th Aug 2009 08:46
Blue chips have opened lower despite good performances overnight in the US and Asia. Insurer Legal & General has set the tone, by slashing the interim dividend by 45% after posting a loss of £1bn on a European embedded value (EEV) basis. The half-year dividend has been cut to 1.11p a share from 2.0
Read moreLondon pre-open: Footsie to open unchanged
4th Aug 2009 07:46
A flat start is predicted from FTSE 100 despite the continuing stream of results RBS has confirmed that it will sell its banking operations in seven Asian countries to Australia's ANZ Group for $418m. It will sell its retail and commercial banking operations in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Indo
Read moreStandard Chartered to raise £1bn
4th Aug 2009 07:06
Asia-focused bank Standard Chartered is to raise £1bn through a placing after a solid first half with profits up by 10% despite a more than doubled bad debt charge. Interim profits to end June rose to $2.84bn, from $2.59bn, on operating income up 14% to $7.96bn, from $6.98bn this time last year. Im
Read moreShareholders of UK banks looking for a result
31st Jul 2009 18:06
The banking sector has been one of the top five performers since the market rally started on 9 March, and next week's results from the major players are expected to add weight to the view that the worst may be behind them. Barclays and HSBC get the ball rolling on Monday. Both companies have avoide
Read moreLondon afternoon: Financials find favour
24th Jul 2009 14:11
Footsie eased back a little over the lunchtime session but thanks to firm financials the blue-chip index continues to shrug off this morning's gloomy data on gross domestic product (GDP). UK output contracted 0.8% between April and June after a 2.4% decline in the first quarter, according to the Of
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