30th Jan 2012 17:13
Just nine stocks in the FTSE 100 finished above water on Monday as the Eurozone crisis weighed heavily on sentiment. With the borrowing rate of Portuguese debt surging, Greek talks still unresolved and an EU summit taking place, a risk-off attitude swept across the market today with resource stocks
Read more30th Jan 2012 11:55
London's blue chip index had fallen close to its lowest levels of the day by lunchtime ahead of the EU summit in Brussels. Meanwhile, markets were still digesting the downgrade of five Eurozone nations on Friday and the talks between the Greek government and private creditors that are still ongoing.
Read more25th Jan 2012 16:14
- UK GDP figures disappoint. - Markets await FOMC statement and Bernanke. UK stocks finished firmly in the red after worse-than-expected UK gross domestic product (GDP) figures sent banks reeling early on. Meanwhile, markets in the US were mixed ahead of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) sta
Read more25th Jan 2012 13:34
Investment manager Ashmore was the best performer, rising over 5%, bouncing back after a poor performance yesterday on the back of a downgrade from Royal Bank of Scotland. Today, however, the stock was given a boost after Barclays upgraded it to overweight from neutral. ARM Holdings, the chip desi
Read more25th Jan 2012 11:55
- UK GDP contracts in the fourth quarter. - BoE unanimous in decision to maintain rates. - Mortgage approvals rise. In spite of a strong start, London's FTSE 100 experienced a sharp decline in morning trade following some disappointing gross domestic product figures which came in worse than expecte
Read more19th Jan 2012 17:05
-Euro optimism drives gains. -Barclays, Lloyds, RBS leads the risers. -Essar falls 11.9%, still volatile after Indian tax ruling. A combination of better-than-expected earnings figures and economic data from the US, talks of progress between the Greek government and private creditors, and strong de
Read more13th Jan 2012 16:34
Markets turned south in afternoon trade on rumours of imminent action by ratings agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) to downgrade the ratings of several Eurozone countries. A senior Eurozone government official has been cited as saying that both France and Austria could have their ratings downgraded by
Read more13th Jan 2012 12:03
The Footsie's earlier gains were pared by lunchtime as US stock futures slipped ahead of key earnings report from JP Morgan Chase & Co and the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index. Italy issued €4.75bn in medium-term debt, the top of its €3-4.75bn target range. The borrowing costs of Ju
Read more19th Dec 2011 14:21
The banks were among the worst performers of the day on Monday as they awaited a the government's response to proposed changes to the sector by the Independent Commission on Banking (ICB). The ICB has recommended that lenders should be forced to ring-fence their High Street lending operations from
Read more19th Dec 2011 11:50
The Footsie pared gains and was trading flat by midday with banking stocks providing a drag ahead of the government's response to Sir John Vickers' report into banking. The Bank of England's Quarterly Bulletin revealed that 56% of households surveyed reckoned that income available after tax, insura
Read more19th Dec 2011 09:52
Financial giant Standard Chartered is poised to cut the size of its South Korean workforce by up to 13%, the Financial Times writes this morning. The above in what the bank believes will be the final stage of "a painful overhaul of costs and corporate culture" which this past summer sparked South K
Read more12th Dec 2011 16:46
London's Footsie finished at its lowest levels of the day after Wall Street bourses opened sharply in the red. The Eurozone crisis appeared to be weighing heavily on investors' minds (as usual) following some downbeat comments from Moody's. The FTSE 100 finished 1.8% down at 5,428, some 101 points o
Read more12th Dec 2011 12:32
Analysts at Credit Suisse have issued a rather downbeat research note on pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca this morning. While they believe that the company's share price already reflects "the material patent expiry burden facing AstraZeneca," they are not so sure that the same can be said of the p
Read more12th Dec 2011 11:49
The Footsie was trading just below the 5,500 level at midday, with banks and miners providing a drag on London's blue chip index. It seems that markets across Europe have given a lukewarm reaction to the 'fiscal compact' agreed by (some) EU leaders late last week, with indices in Paris, Frankfurt an
Read more12th Dec 2011 11:09
Standard Chartered: "We acknowledge the strength of the management team in driving the quality of the results with low levels of current impairments, but don't see large upside in the stock price from current levels given the need for continued strong volume growth and the below normalised impairmen
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