Monday paper round-up: British Airways, Goldman Sachs, Election
19th Apr 2010 06:41
British Airways challenged the blanket ban on flights as its chief executive took to the skies to test the effects of volcanic ash on its aircraft. Willie Walsh, the airline's chief executive, joined four crew in a three-hour test flight from London, over the Atlantic, to Cardiff. Today the airline
Read moreLondon close: Markets dive
16th Apr 2010 16:21
Along with other global markets, London's benchmark was sideswiped by news that Goldman Sachs has been charged with fraud on subprime mortgages by the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Stocks nosedived around 70 points in the final hour of trading as the news emerged. The banking sector had be
Read moreLondon afternoon: Footsie slips back
16th Apr 2010 14:35
Footsie has drifted back a little with miners among the stocks dragging on the leading share index. Cambridge-based enterprise software giant Autonomy is the heaviest faller in the FTSE 100 though. It said its first quarter results should be in line with the market's expectations. Xstrata is the h
Read moreLondon midday: No broker boost for FTSE 100
16th Apr 2010 12:08
Buoyancy among stocks that have received favourable broker coverage has failed to lift Footsie. RBS is going well after BofA Merrill Lynch raised its target price on the bank to 65p from 45p, highlighting its potential to benefit from economic recovery. 'We still believe RBS is one of most geared
Read moreWeek Ahead: Tesco, Punch Taverns, GDP
16th Apr 2010 11:58
Asda's soon to depart chief executive Andy Bond admitted on Thursday that the Wal-Mart owned supermarket chain has not been happy with its recent sales performance. That suggests that the market leader in the sector, Tesco, has recovered its poise after a slight wobble in the early days of the reces
Read moreLondon open: Footsie starts lower
16th Apr 2010 08:18
Footsie has fallen back in early dealings Friday morning but is so far still trading above the 5,800 point mark. Temporary power and heating specialist Aggreko is the worst performer after it said it performed in line with expectations in the first quarter of the year, with healthy revenue rises fr
Read moreFriday newspaper round-up: BT, Asda, Prudential
16th Apr 2010 06:20
Orange has opened up a new front in the fight for broadband customers after abandoning its fixed-line network and cutting a deal with BT to offer better high-speed internet. The move is Tom Alexander's first significant strategic decision as chief executive since Orange and T-Mobile merged last mont
Read moreLondon afternoon: Losses pared
13th Apr 2010 14:25
Footsie perked up over the lunch time session despite expectations of a weak start on Wall Street. Retail sales data has given a boost to retailers such as Kingfisher, Marks & Spencer, Next and Tesco. UK retail sales in March rose at their fastest rate in almost four years thanks to the earlier t
Read moreSector movers: Sales rise offsets Debenhams caution
13th Apr 2010 12:47
Retailers have come into focus and it appears that is a rise in sales across the sector in March rather than a rise in profits at Debenhams that has lifted sentiment. UK retail sales in March rose at their fastest rate in almost four years thanks to the earlier timing of Easter this year, new figur
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Kingfisher flies high
13th Apr 2010 12:44
Retail sales data has given a boost to retailers such as B&Q owner Kingfisher, clothes retailers Next and Marks & Spencer and the supermarkets Sainsbury's and Tesco. Sales in March rose at their fastest rate in almost four years thanks to the earlier timing of Easter this year, new figures from the
Read moreWednesday paper round-up: Election, BSkyB, Prudential
7th Apr 2010 06:35
Britain's business leaders have warned of a month of market volatility ahead of the General Election unless the political parties offer more coherent plans on cutting the £167bn deficit. The pound fell against the dollar and the euro on Tuesday as the openingelection moves failed to convince trader
Read moreSunday paper round-up: Virgin Money, BG, Tesco
4th Apr 2010 19:45
Wilbur Ross, the billionaire Wall Street turnround expert, is backing Sir Richard Branson's attempts to conquer British high street banking. Ross, 72, who made his name buying coal, steel and telecoms companies, is understood to be paying £100m for a 21% stake in Virgin Money, Branson's finance ope
Read moreVeg price cuts slow food inflation
3rd Mar 2010 11:35
A fall in the cost of fresh veg took food price inflation to a three-year low in February, figures from the British Retail Consortium revealed today. Food prices grew just 1.3% year-on-year last month, down from 2.9% in January, following 0.3% deflation in fresh food. It was running at 9% a year ag
Read moreBroker snap: JPM sees value in Morrisons
2nd Feb 2010 09:52
Morrisons has come a long way since it bought rival supermarket Safeway, said the broker JP Morgan as it lifted its rating on the stock to 'overweight' from 'neutral', upping the target price to 340p from 320p. It is now three times the size and its food sales density, a measure of how much is sold
Read moreLSE launches retail bond market
1st Feb 2010 17:18
Some 33 years after the Jim Callaghan-led Labour government became an unlikely midwife to the concept of a 'share owning democracy' with its privatisation of a chunk of the government's stake in BP, the London Stock Exchange (LSE) is hoping to convert a proportion of the British public to the appeal
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