London midday: Tough morning for blue chips
23rd Nov 2010 11:48
Blue chips have had a difficult morning with the twin concerns of a serious outbreak of fighting in Korea and Irish bail-out worries knocking sentiment. Fears of debt contagion are pushing the banks down, with Barclays, Standard Chartered and Lloyds Banking the hardest hit. Royal Bank of Scotland
Read moreLondon open: Korea and Ireland sink markets
23rd Nov 2010 08:50
Renewed hostilities between North and South Korea and fears that the euro-crisis will spread beyond Ireland have made for a poor start on markets across Europe. Economists are lining up up to say the bail-out proposed for Ireland won't be enough to save the eurozone, while North Korea shelling a So
Read moreLondon pre-open: More falls expected
23rd Nov 2010 07:35
Shares are expected to fall further in early dealings, continuing the reversal yesterday as worries mounted that the euro-crisis will spread beyond Ireland. Mitchells & Butlers' debt reduction programme has cut the pub group's interest bill, helping boost full-year profit by 26%. The All Bar One an
Read moreSevern Trent profits fall despite revenue hike
23rd Nov 2010 07:05
Water Group Severn Trent posted a fall in profits in the six months to 30 September despite higher revenues, after facing a number of charges. The company, which serves 8m customers across England and Wales, said pre-tax profits fell to £101.1m from £208.2m the previous year on turnover that rose
Read moreTuesday preview: Mitchells & Butlers, Severn Trent, De La Rue
22nd Nov 2010 18:04
Pubs group Mitchells & Butlers, which issues full-year results, in its recent nine week trading update highlighted a 3.6% like-for-like sales improvement on last year. Food sales were, as usual, the driver of growth but even the "wet" side of the business saw a pick-up. Brokers now expect the All B
Read moreWeek ahead: US GDP, Mitchells & Butlers, Severn Trent...
19th Nov 2010 15:22
Pubs group Mitchells & Butlers' recent nine week trading update highlighted a 3.6% like-for-like sales improvement on last year. Food sales were, as usual, the driver of growth but even the "wet" side of the business saw a pick-up. Brokers now expect the All Bar One and Harvester owner to post pro
Read moreLondon close: Footsie rallies to narrow losses
12th Nov 2010 16:47
Footsie recovered from an early slump to close just a few points lower as well-received company updates nearly cancelled out losses in the mining sector. Miners were big fallers on disappointment with the outcome at the G20 meeting and the possibility of a currency free-for-all. Talk that China is
Read moreLondon afternoon: Imagination hit by Samsung rumour
12th Nov 2010 14:27
Considering mining shares are in the dumper Footsie, though lower on the day, is faring reasonably well, after a lunch time session that saw share prices move sideways. Miners are big fallers on disappointment with the outcome at the G20 meeting and the possibility of a currency free-for-all. Talk
Read moreLondon close: Footsie rallies but finishes lower
12th Oct 2010 16:46
London battled hard to undo early losses, but fell just short, closing a few points in the red, amid a backdrop of lower commodity prices and sobering trading updates. Miners were under the cosh. Xstrata was among the heavy fallers in the mining sector. It said today it is starting work again at
Read moreLondon afternoon: Resource stocks a drag
12th Oct 2010 14:09
Equity prices continued to recover over the lunch time session though the blue-chip index remains in the red, largely thanks to the weakness of resource stocks. Xstrata, Lonmin, and Antofagasta are the worst hit of the miners, though the whole sector is lower. Metals prices have fallen back as the
Read moreLondon midday: Bid rumours lift Standard Chartered
12th Oct 2010 12:13
The second half of the morning session was better than the first for Footsie, with leading stocks trimming early losses, but the blue-chip index remains in the red, largely thanks to the weakness of resource stocks. Xstrata, Lonmin, and Antofagasta are the worst hit of the miners, though the whole
Read moreLondon close: Late rally trims losses
23rd Sep 2010 16:40
London staged a last hour rally but didn't rise by enough to eliminate losses sparked by a weak start on Wall Street. News that Brazilian oil company Petrobas will launch a world record $78bn rights issue helped other oil companies. BP, Shell and Cairn all picked up near the close. Expectation t
Read moreLondon afternoon: US shadow increases London gloom
23rd Sep 2010 14:24
Expectations of a weak start on Wall Street, after poor US jobless data, sent London lower still over the lunch time session, with banks and miners continuing to feature prominently among the blue-chip fallers. Lloyds and Standard Chartered are the worst performing banking stocks as worries resur
Read moreLondon 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 moreXP Power founder trims holding
4th Aug 2010 16:28
XP Power deputy chairman James Peters raised £1.47m from a share disposal two days after bumper interim figures from the power control products supplier. Peters sold 200,000 shares at 735p each. Peters founded XP in 1988 and still owns nearly 2.7m shares, which is equivalent to 14%. That still mak
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