London close: Late rally pares losses
5th May 2010 17:16
Though tomorrow is the day of the UK General Election all eyes were on Greece today, as at least three people were reported dead as violent protests erupted in central Athens against the planned introduction of austerity measures. Stocks came off the bottom towards the end of the session, though th
Read moreLondon afternoon: Greek riots rattle investors
5th May 2010 14:53
Footsie is now nursing a triple digit fall as the downward trend seen in the last hour of the morning session accelerated over lunch as US investors woke up to television footage of Greeks rioting in the streets. Civil unrest in Greece has sent the price of oil and metals into decline with a predic
Read moreLondon close: S&P puts spanner in the works
28th Apr 2010 17:09
For the second day in a row the debt ratings agency Standard & Poor's has sent markets into a late swoon, this time with a downgrade on Spanish sovereign debt. Standard & Poor's (S&P) cut its long-term sovereign credit rating on Spain, saying the country is likely to see an extended period of subd
Read moreLondon afternoon: Footsie in positive territory
28th Apr 2010 14:40
The FTSE 100 is now in positive territory as heavily weighted index constituents such as Shell, BP, HSBC and Glaxo make headway, but the FTSE 250 index remains in the red. Higher oil prices helped Royal Dutch Shell post a sharp rise in earnings in the first quarter of 2010. Profit jumped to $4.9bn
Read moreLondon midday: Stocks off the bottom
28th Apr 2010 12:13
Blue-chips are beginning to recover their poise, helped by demand for heavyweight oil stocks in the wake of better than expected results from Shell, and a positive reaction to results from Glaxo, released at noon. Higher oil prices helped Royal Dutch Shell post a sharp rise in earnings in the first
Read moreLondon open: Footsie heading lower
28th Apr 2010 08:51
Footsie has opened lower though losses so far are not anywhere near the scale seen on Wall Street and Asia overnight. Concern over the state of the eurozone economy may mean more weakness later but for now investors seem happy to wade through an avalanche of results and trading updates. Oil groups
Read moreLondon close:Equities advance on broad front
20th Apr 2010 17:11
London brought its two day losing streak to an end today, despite a mixed reception to the day's major company announcements and a disappointing set of inflation figures. A sharp rise in fuel costs was responsible for much of the acceleration in the inflation rate, which climbed to 3.4% from 3% in
Read moreLondon afternoon: Tesco heads small band of fallers
20th Apr 2010 14:13
The blue-chip index shuffled sideways over the lunch time session with not even expectations of a firm opening on Wall Street encouraging buyers to commit further. Earlier in the day sentiment had received a knock from worse than expected inflation data. A sharp rise in fuel costs was responsible f
Read moreLondon midday: Equities resume upward trend
20th Apr 2010 12:15
Worse than expected inflation figures gave the market pause for thought but leading equities have since recovered their poise and ended the morning session on an upward trend. A sharp rise in fuel costs was responsible for much of the acceleration in the inflation rate, which climbed to 3.4% from 3
Read moreLondon open: Footsie makes bright start
20th Apr 2010 08:49
Footsie has moved higher as retailers come into focus on a busy day on the company news front. Tesco reaffirmed its position as the UK's supermarket powerhouse as profits last year surged to nearly £3.2bn with underlying growth of more than 10%. Total sales in the year to end February rose by 6.8%
Read moreTullow's Dahoma well fails to find hydrocarbons
20th Apr 2010 07:26
Tullow Oil said its Dahoma-1 exploration well in the West Cape Three Points licence only encountered water bearing reservoirs. Angus McCoss, Exploration Director, said: "Dahoma-1 is the first of 12 wells in our deepwater Ghana Exploration and Appraisal campaign not to encounter hydrocarbons." "I
Read moreLondon open: Footsie slips back
13th Apr 2010 08:36
With market-moving company news thin on the ground, lower metals prices have been weighing on the mining sector, which is dragging Footsie lower. Antofagasta is the heaviest faller. Platinum specialist Lonmin and Kazakh duo ENRC and Kazakhmys are also weak. In economic news, the Royal Institution
Read moreLondon pre-open: Stocks to slip back
13th Apr 2010 07:36
Stocks are expected to be broadly lower in early dealings, with the retail sector coming into focus following upbeat March sales figures and a rise in profits from Debenhams. UK retail sales in March rose at their fastest rate in almost four years thanks to the earlier timing of Easter this year, n
Read moreTullow finds oil at Kasamene field, Uganda
13th Apr 2010 07:25
Tullow Oil said the Kasamene-3 and Kasamene-3A wells in the Butiaba region of Uganda Block 2 have successfully delineated the extent of oil in the Kasamene field and discovered oil in the Wahrindi North fault block. The Kasamene-3 well was drilled down-dip and 2.2 kilometres to the southwest of th
Read moreLondon close: Footsie bounds ahead
1st Apr 2010 16:57
London's blue chips moved forward again with miners and resource stocks driving the index upwards ahead of the Easter break. Footsie is now up by over 6% since the start of the year and by 45% over the past 12 months. Miners and oil companies were lifted as manufacturing activity accelerated in C
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