London midday: Blue-chips in the red
23rd Sep 2010 12:12
London's blue-chips are beating a rapid retreat but second liners are having a slightly better time of it, though most are still in arrears. Banks and miners are prominent among the blue-chip fallers. Lloyds and Standard Chartered are the worst performing banking stocks while HSBC is also lower a
Read moreLondon open: Footsie makes small gains
21st Sep 2010 08:54
Footsie has opened higher encouraged by yesterday's 145-point surge on Wall Street and some bullish company news. Online betting exchange Betfair must think the recent rally is sustainable. It is to take a punt on the market's appetite for new issues and float in London. No pricing details accompan
Read moreFriday newspaper round-up: HMRC, Clapham House, Basel III...
17th Sep 2010 06:38
HM Revenue & Customs is considering plans to deduct tax directly from workers' pay packets before salaries reach their bank accounts. There was widespread incredulity last night that HMRC, which has come under fire for its handling of the Pay as You Earn fiasco, had included a proposal in a discuss
Read moreLondon close: Banks behind fresh surge
9th Sep 2010 16:38
Investors were back in love with banks Thursday which, coupled with a big session for the miners, pushed the leading index to a new four-month high. The FTSE 100 finished not far off its best levels above 5,500. It was the first tim eit had traded above the big figure since May 4. British lenders
Read moreHSBC could leave UK if forced to split
3rd Sep 2010 07:23
HSBC has joined other banks in warning it could leave the UK if the Commission on Banking recommends the break-up of the country's major banks. In much more explicit comments than its rivals, Stuart Gulliver, the head of HSBC's investment banking business and a possible future chief executive of th
Read moreBroker tips: Unilever, Standard Chartered, 888
5th Aug 2010 13:49
Charles Stanley believes investors are increasingly viewing an investment in Unilever as a proxy for exposure to emerging markets, from which around half of the household goods giant's sales are derived. As such, the 8.2% underlying sales increase by Asia/Africa/Central & Eastern Europe against exp
Read moreLondon close: Rally falls short
4th Aug 2010 16:50
The FTSE 100 briefly made it into positive territory in the afternoon session but that only lured out more sellers and the blue-chip index closed slightly down on the day. Shares in Next remained in the doghouse all day, not so much because of the performance in the first half of its financial yea
Read moreLondon midday: Stocks start to recover
4th Aug 2010 12:08
Leading share prices have come off the bottom but the FTSE 100 remains in arrears, following mixed news on the corporate front. Shares in Next are sharply lower. The fashion retailer has noticed a 'cooling' in consumers' demand in recent months, but still expects profits this year to rise by betwee
Read moreEuropean midday: Banks largely lower
4th Aug 2010 12:02
Europe's main markets remain in the red in midday dealings as investors consider a mixed bag of results in the banking sector. Quarterly profits at Societe Generale beat analyst forecasts, climbing more than threefold, helped by a good performance of its French retail business. The Paris-based ban
Read moreEuropean open: Banking figures in focus
4th Aug 2010 09:06
European shares slipped early on Wednesday after a number of the region's biggest banks updated the market on their recent performance. Quarterly profits at Societe Generale beat analyst forecasts, climbing more than threefold, helped by a good performance of its French retail business. The Paris
Read moreLondon open: Blue chips lower on mixed results
4th Aug 2010 08:40
London has made a quiet start after a decline on Wall Street overnight and mixed trading statements this morning. Lloyds is very much back in the black after posting a profit of £1.6bn for the first half of 2010, twice as much as some analysts had forecast. The bank, which lost almost £4bn this tim
Read moreLondon pre-open: Stocks to pull back
4th Aug 2010 07:30
Early losses look likely in London this morning as investors react to a decline on Wall Street overnight. Futures prices currently indicate a 22-point decline for the FTSE 100 when trading starts shortly. Lloyds is very much back in the black after posting a profit of £1.6bn for the first half of
Read moreStandard Chartered in excellent shape
4th Aug 2010 07:21
Impairment provisions were sharply lower at Asia-focused bank Standard Chartered in the first half of 2010 as pre-tax profit improved 10% year on year. Profit before taxation of $3,116m was up 10% from $2,838m in the corresponding period of 2009 but, as was the case for most performance metrics, th
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Standard strong ahead of interims
3rd Aug 2010 15:44
Financials are generally strong but Footsie is still lower on the day. Standard Chartered is strong ahead of tomorrow's interim results. Man Group, Standard Life and Prudential are also higher. Banking group Investec is heading in the other direction after it raised £104.5m through a placing at 4
Read moreWednesday preview: Lloyds Banking, Legal & General, Next
3rd Aug 2010 15:26
The UK government is showing a paper profit on its 41% stake in high street banking giant Lloyds and should have further cause for celebration when the bank unveils profits for the first half of the year on Wednesday. Expectations are for Lloyds to declare pre-tax profits in excess of £800m, a shar
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