London open: Thomas Cook, Dixons jump higher
24th Nov 2011 08:34
The Footsie was trading broadly flat early on, swinging between small gains and losses in the opening minutes. Weighing on sentiment was a poll by Reuters/Ipsos MORI which showed that the majority of Britons (58%) believe the economy will get worse over the next year. That is the highest figure sin
Read moreSector movers: Oil services stocks fall as crude sinks
21st Nov 2011 13:44
Every sector was either trading flat of registering a loss on Monday as European and US debt concerns sparked a mass sell-off. Oil equipment, services and distribution stocks were the worst performers as oil prices sank for the third day. The Finance Ministry of Japan, the third-largest crude oil c
Read moreLondon close: Italian fears spark sell-off
9th Nov 2011 16:30
The top share index in London finished at its lowest levels of the day on Wednesday afternoon, as worries over the dire financial situation in Italy caused a mass sell-off across all European markets. The same worries also dampened sentiment in the US, with the three Wall Street benchmarks dropping
Read moreLondon close: Poor start on Wall Street fuels late sell-off
2nd Aug 2011 16:32
A poor start on Wall Street spurred a late decline in London on Tuesday, as the Footsie fell nearly 1% in afternoon trading, despite trading sideward for the majority of the day. The main US equity benchmarks are now trading firmly in the red following worse than expected economic numbers out in t
Read moreLondon pre-open: Wall Street tail-winds boost London
20th Jul 2011 07:37
After the Dow Jones had its best day of the year overnight investors are keen to get their wallets out this morning and dive into equities. City traders think the blue-chip index will open around 30 points higher and crash back through the 5,800 barrier. One stock unlikely to be joining the upsurg
Read moreSevern Trent's year off to steady start
20th Jul 2011 07:18
Not much has changed at water company Severn Trent since the beginning of April with the company continuing to trade in line with expectations. Customer prices in Severn Trent Water increased by 4.7% (including inflation) from 1 April 2011. Consumption across the group's measured income base declin
Read moreWednesday preview: BoE minutes, Severn Trent
19th Jul 2011 15:53
Wednesday sees the release of the minutes of the most recent minutes of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) and though it is assumed that voting on interest rate policy has become a bit of a non-event, Dr. Howard Archer, the seemingly omnipresent economist of forecasting agency I H
Read moreEngland expects with £85,000 ITE purchase
8th Jul 2011 16:21
Non-executive director Neil England has taken advantage of a weak spell in the share price of ITE Group, splashing out £85,000 on shares in the FTSE 250-listed exhibitions organiser. He took 40,000 shares at 213.5p a share and now had 50,000. ITE organises exhibitions in areas such as the oil and
Read moreLondon close: Utilities provide late boost
27th Jun 2011 16:39
The Footsie closed near its daily highs after a strong start on Wall Street. Utilities stock lead the rise, while financials were lower. Utilities stocks finished higher, with United Utilities Group and Severn Trent making gains of nearly 3.7% and 2.2%, respectively. Financials were among the wors
Read moreLondon close: Stocks end flat ahead of Fed statement
22nd Jun 2011 16:44
After a poor start, the Footsie was pulled into positive territory for a brief moment but ended flat ahead of the Federal Reserve's decision over the interest rate and a possible QE3. Expectations are for the rate-setting committee to announce few changes, but one never knows for sure. There is now
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Man Group leads the recovery
22nd Jun 2011 15:33
Hedge fund manager Man Group is the high riser of the day, pulling the Footsie back into positive territory, after some kind words from Credit Suisse. Man is "moving in the right direction", according to the Swiss brokerage, who upgraded the firm from a 'neutral' to an 'outperform' rating. "Clearly
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Essar rises over 5% to lead risers
27th May 2011 14:10
Energy firm Essar Energy is topping the risers, making a +5% gain as of Friday afternoon. Meanwhile, Cairn Energy is the heaviest faller, edging just 0.5% lower. Only five stocks are in the red, all recording minor losses. The miners are tracking metals prices higher. Antofagasta, Kazakhmys, Rio Ti
Read moreLondon midday: Banks provide a boost
27th May 2011 12:05
The Footsie is around 1% higher at the midday point, holding on to early gains. The banking sector is performing well today after positive comments from Citigroup. The US bank upped its rating on European banks to 'overweight', saying that the recent decline in the share prices provides a good entr
Read moreSevern Trent net capex to rise this year
27th May 2011 08:02
Water company Severn Trent said the new regulatory period has started well for the group with planned operational expenditure for the year below the level allowed for in the Final Determination issued by the industry's watchdog, Ofwat. Group turnover edged up 0.4% to £1.71bn in the year to 31 March
Read moreAverage rise of 4.6% for water bills
25th Feb 2011 12:16
Rising inflation rates are feeding through to water bills with consumers facing an average increase in annual charges of 4.6%, according to Ofwat. The water industry regulator had agreed with the water companies that average bills should fall by 0.1% before inflation is taken into account. The inf
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