UPDATE: Thursday broker round-up
6th Oct 2011 09:28
Intermediate Capital: RBS cuts target from 405p to 360p, buy rating maintained. EasyJet: Credit Suisse upgrades to overperform from neutral. RyanAir: Credit Suisse upgrades to overperform from neutral. Tesco: Credit Suisse reiterates overperform with target at 500p. Tesco: Evolution Securities
Read moreBroker snap: Evolution downgrades Tesco to reduce
6th Oct 2011 09:23
Evolution Securities has downgraded its rating for supermarket giant Tesco from neutral to reduce, saying it is concerned about falling UK trading margins in the second half. The group revealed on Wednesday that like-for-like (LFL) sales in the UK (excluding petrol) fell 0.6% while total sales rose
Read moreLondon close: Footsie jumps over 3% to finish above 5,100
5th Oct 2011 16:37
The Footsie finished near its intraday highs, as it jumped back towards the 5,100 level, after a modest start on Wall Street. Global sentiment was lifted last night after on the back of comments from the European commissioner for economic and monetary affairs. In an interview with the Financial Ti
Read moreFTSE 100 Movers: Miners leading the way
5th Oct 2011 16:10
Mining companies - sensitive to swings in the global economic outlook - were heading north after markets were buoyed by the news that European Union finance ministers agreed on a plan for the co-ordinated recapitalistion of finance institutions. Xstrata, Vedanta Resources, Kazakhmys, Rio Tinto and
Read moreLondon midday: Retailers in focus, markets shrug off Italian downgrade
5th Oct 2011 12:09
Outweighing concerns over Italy's credit rating were hopes that the Europe will strengthen its struggling banks as stock markets across the continent extended their gains at lunchtime on Wednesday. In London, the Footsie was trading well over 2% higher, following on from a dramatic rally on Wall St
Read moreBroker snap: H2O Markets downgrades Sainsbury to hold
5th Oct 2011 10:22
H2O Markets has downgraded its rating on supermarket giant Sainsbury to hold as it believes that the firm will have difficulties keeping up with rival Tesco after the latter launched its 'Big Price Drop'. "While the supermarket has a broad range of promotional initiatives to attract new customers,
Read moreUPDATE: Wednesday broker round-up
5th Oct 2011 09:12
Sainsbury: H2O Markets downgrades to hold. Tesco: Baadar Bank confirms buy rating and 500p target. Kingfisher: Investec keeps hold and 245p target. Wood Group: Investec places target under review, hold recommendation maintained. SuperGroup: Peel Hunt downgrades from buy to hold, target put unde
Read moreLondon open: Footsie jumps back above 5,000, retailers mixed
5th Oct 2011 08:37
The Footsie has clawed its way back over the 5,000 level on Wednesday morning, with just four stocks registering losses, following on from a dramatic rally on Wall Street late Tuesday night. Driving the bull market in the last hour in the US - which saw the Dow swing 400 points - were reports from
Read moreLondon pre-open: Stocks to rebound
5th Oct 2011 07:35
After yesterday's shake-out stocks are set to rebound strongly this morning with City traders saying that a triple-digit rise from last night's close of 4,944 is not out of the question. Supermarket leviathan Tesco saw a 6.2% year-on-year rise in underlying profit before tax to £1.9bn in the 26 wee
Read moreTesco heading for break-even in the US, Asia booming
5th Oct 2011 07:23
Tesco the British retail giant, has seen total sales grow 8.8% in the half year to the end of August. Group sales hit £35.52bn with revenue excluding VAT up 7.3% from last year at £31.812bn. At constant exchange rates, sales increased by 8.2% (including petrol) and 6.7% (excluding petrol). Underly
Read moreWednesday preview: Tesco and Sainsbury go head to head
4th Oct 2011 17:54
Tesco's interim figures on Wednesday are eagerly awaited, given the recent change in strategy of the company in favour of an "every day low prices" approach rather than a promotions-led policy, such as the double Clubcard points offers the firm has provided in the past. The interesting question is
Read moreLondon close: Footsie finishes well below 5,000
4th Oct 2011 17:31
Though share prices recovered a tad after some reassuring noises from Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke, London still finished the day deep on the red, with the Footsie well below the psychologically important 5,000 level. Federal Reserve president Ben Bernanke told the Joint Economic Committe
Read moreSector movers: Oil-related stocks plummet as Brent drops below $100
4th Oct 2011 15:36
Unsurprisingly, there were only two categories making gains on Tuesday, as markets worldwide suffered a broad sell-off on the back of the ongoing debt crisis in Europe. In London, the oil equipment, services and distribution sector was among the worst performing groups of stocks in the afternoon as
Read moreFTSE 100 Movers: Tesco bucks the trend
4th Oct 2011 15:34
Shares in Tesco bucked the downward trend on Tuesday after UBS upgraded the supermarket titan from neutral to buy and added the stock to its 'Key Calls' list, highlighting that "driving higher returns is now at the heart of group strategy." A broad sell-off in commodities markets is providing a dr
Read moreLondon midday: Banks plummet, retailers buck trend
4th Oct 2011 12:29
A decent performance from the retail sector was not enough to pull the market higher by lunchtime, as investors bailed out of banking, engineering and mining stocks on concerns over the global economy. Jean-Claude Juncker, chairman of the Eurogroup finance minister committee, has said that there wi
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