London close: Losses narrow
15th Dec 2009 16:33
Top shares fought back late afternoon to halve losses, but most financial issues stayed lower, while oil plays also ended friendless. Turmoil in the Greek banking sector since credit ratings agency Fitch downgraded the country's sovereign debt last week continued to hurt. Barclays and HSBC were am
Read moreLondon close: Glum faces as stocks slide
8th Dec 2009 16:40
A weak start on Wall Street and serious concerns about Greece's public finances and Dubai's debt restructuring ensured London ended deep in the red Tuesday. Fears over the solvency of Greece reached new levels after Fitch downgraded its outlook on the country by one rating to 'negative'. Fellow rat
Read moreLondon afternoon: US slump adds to Footsie woes
8th Dec 2009 15:04
Footsie's losses have widened further after a poor start on Wall Street. The leading share index had already fallen sharply, with Royal Bank of Scotland in focus. Trading in the state-controlled bank briefly stopped trading and it went into 'auction' as the price tumbled below 30p, though it has s
Read moreLondon midday: RBS dominates as rumours fly
8th Dec 2009 12:16
Footsie has turned down sharply with Royal Bank of Scotland dominating the morning. Trading in the state-controlled bank briefly stopped trading and it went into 'auction' as the price tumbled below 30p, though it has since recovered a little. The auction process is used when a company's share p
Read moreLondon open: Retailers lead fallers
8th Dec 2009 08:19
London's blue chips are slightly lower after the open on Tuesday with Tesco and Game among the main fallers after the retailers updated the market. Supermarket giant Tesco is leading the FTSE 100 fallers despite reporting strong sales in the third quarter as its Clubcard reward scheme helped it dr
Read moreLondon pre-open: Shares set to drop
8th Dec 2009 07:34
London's top stocks are expected to start around 13 points lower, with investors likely to focus on figures from retailers Tesco and Game. Supermarket giant Tesco saw strong sales in the third quarter as its Clubcard reward scheme helped it draw in customers and it continued to benefit from increa
Read moreTullow partner upbeat on Ghana drilling
8th Dec 2009 07:28
Kosmos Energy, Tullow Oil's operating partner on the West Cape Three Points Block, offshore Ghana, has reported another encouraging test drilling. "We are pleased that we have successfully confirmed the second of our four oil and gas discoveries to date offshore Ghana," said Brian F Maxted, Kosmos
Read moreLondon close: Profit taking trims gains
11th Nov 2009 17:12
Better than expected unemployment figures and some relatively upbeat comments from Bank of England governor Mervyn King propelled Footsie to a new intra-day high for 2009 in the morning session, but stocks came off the top in the afternoon session. The UK unemployment rate, as measured by the Inter
Read moreLondon afternoon: Share prices froth over
11th Nov 2009 14:12
Share prices are coming off the top, though Footsie remains comfortably in positive territory thanks to strong demand for miners and insurers. Miners are wanted as metal prices pick up following news that Chinese industrial output rose to a 19-month high in October. BHP Billiton, Kazakhmys, Rio Ti
Read moreLondon midday: Footsie hits intra-day high for 2009
11th Nov 2009 12:15
The Footsie is hovering around its high for the year of 5300, after better than expected UK unemployment figures. Sentiment was little affected by Bank of England governor Mervyn King saying he thinks inflation will rise above the 2% target set by the government as the impact of quantitative easi
Read moreTullow still going strong
11th Nov 2009 07:25
Tullow Oil is riding high and still performing "strongly", the oil and gas group said Wednesday. It's trading in line with expectations and has maintained production guidance for the year. The firm, which has cemented its place in the FTSE 100 this year, said its overall, operational and financial
Read moreLondon close: Blue chips slip lower
16th Oct 2009 16:50
London's blue chips closed lower as investors used a 100 point plus fall for the Dow as an excuse to take profits. Many of the major commodity plays, including Xstrata, Rio Tinto and Anglo American had enjoyed gains in early deals, but investors lost interest late morning. Oil plays BP, Royal Dutc
Read moreLondon afternoon: Stocks remain lower
16th Oct 2009 14:54
London's blue chips are still in the red in midday dealings after the Dow dropped more than 100 points in the US. Many of the major commodity plays, including Xstrata, Rio Tinto and Anglo American had enjoyed gains in early deals, but investors lost interest late morning. Oil plays BP, Royal Dutch
Read moreLondon midday: Footsie gains evaporate
16th Oct 2009 12:07
London is back where it finished yesterday's session as a sell-off in the mining sector on weaker metal prices gathered pace near lunchtime. Many of the major commodity plays, including Xstrata, Rio Tinto and Anglo American had enjoyed gains in early deals, but investors lost interest late morning.
Read moreLondon open: Oil spike lifts Footsie
16th Oct 2009 08:45
Footsie has opened stronger helped by an improvement on Wall Street last night and strong demand for oil stocks after a spike in crude prices. National Express, though, is the main talking point. The price has crashed by more than a quarter as investors face the prospect of a hefty rights issue af
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