London midday: FTSE delivers strong gains in wake of Fed decision
19th Sep 2013 11:39
The FTSE spent the morning up 90-100 or so points higher, after the Federal Reserve surprised with its decision to maintain its bond-buying strategy on the back of softer growth. Meanwhile, data showed that UK retail sales growth suffered a slowdown in August following a particularly strong July.
Read moreLondon open: FTSE soars on outcome of Fed meeting
19th Sep 2013 08:12
The FTSE opened up 90 points this morning after the Federal Reserve surprised with its decision to maintain its bond-buying strategy on the back of softer growth. Following its two-day policy meeting, the Fed announced it had decided to stick with its approach of buying $85bn of debt a month, but
Read moreUnited Utilities sees revenues and profits swell in first half
19th Sep 2013 07:04
Regulatory price increases have allowed water and sewage group United Utilities to raise revenues, profits and investment in the first half of the year. The FTSE 100 company said it anticipated underlying operating profits would be moderately higher than the first half of last year in the six mont
Read moreLondon close: Investors take profits ahead of Fed decision
17th Sep 2013 17:01
Stocks extended losses by the end of trade on Tuesday as investors trimmed positions ahead of the much-anticipated Federal Reserve policy meeting tomorrow. Weighing on markets were heavy falls in the banking sector, with Lloyds sinking after the government placed a 6% stake at a 3.1% discount to ye
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Utilities rise on cautious investing
17th Sep 2013 14:50
Utilities stocks Severn Trent and United Utilities were on the rise as investors grew cautious as the US Federal Reserve begins its two-day meeting during which the central bank will debate whether the economy has improved enough to start scaling back its monetary stimulus. Randgold Resources was
Read moreThursday newspaper round-up: Royal Mail, Pensioners, Water bills
12th Sep 2013 07:16
The government will formally begin the sale of Royal Mail on Thursday by announcing its intention to float the 497-year-old postal service on the London Stock Exchange. It is the most ambitious privatisation since the sale of the railways in the 1990s and is forcefully opposed by the unions, who are
Read moreLondon open: Stocks pull back from four-week high
11th Sep 2013 08:19
FTSE 100 opened slightly lower on Wednesday morning as markets paused for breath to digest recent developments in Syria after the government agreed to hand over its chemical weapons. London's benchmark index finished Tuesday's session at 6,583.99, its highest closing price since August 14th when it
Read moreLondon open: Stocks slip as Syrian turmoil hits risk appetite
28th Aug 2013 08:21
The FTSE 100 dropped firmly into the red on Wednesday morning as escalating tensions between Syria and the West spurred a reduction in risk appetite amongst investors. UN weapons inspectors are expected to return to a site in Damascus near where the suspected chemical weapons attack happened last w
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Wood Group, CRH, Miners
20th Aug 2013 15:03
Wood Group was in the bottom spot after it warned problems with its Canadian business would have an impact on earnings growth. The group said it was scaling back its full-year EBITA growth guidance for its engineering division from 15% to 10-15%, reflecting some project delays and further weakenin
Read moreLondon midday: Corporate earnings weigh on stocks ahead of Fed minutes
20th Aug 2013 11:41
A number of poorly-received results from blue-chip companies and ongoing concerns about the future of US stimulus weighed heavily on markets on Tuesday morning, dragging the FTSE 100 to levels not seen in over six weeks. London's benchmark index reached an intraday low of around 6,400 early on befo
Read moreUnited Utilities trades in line with expectations
26th Jul 2013 09:02
United Utilities said it was trading in line with expectations with a jump in revenue in the period from April 1st to July 25th. In a trading update on Friday, the company said the rise in revenue reflected price increases for 2013/14. However, the incline was slightly below the allowed regulated
Read moreLondon midday: FTSE 100 pulls back from seven-week high
19th Jul 2013 11:25
Mining stocks were among the worst performers on Friday morning, providing a drag on the FTSE 100 as risk appetite declined following the index's seven-week high reached the day before. London's benchmark index closed at 6,634 on Thursday; the last time the index finished higher was on May 30th whe
Read moreLondon close: Markets suffer another sell-off as sentiment remains fragile
24th Jun 2013 16:41
Markets suffered another heavy sell-off on Monday, sending the FTSE 100 to levels not seen since the start of the year, as concerns over a slowdown in China and last week's Federal Reserve policy meeting continuing to hit markets across the globe. London's FTSE 100 finished the day down 87 points,
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Miners fall on concerns over Chinese slowdown
24th Jun 2013 14:13
Mining stocks were again bearing the brunt of the market-wide sell-off on Monday on concerns over slowing growth in China after Goldman Sachs cut its growth forecasts for the powerhouse for this year and the next. Vedanta, Antofagasta, Glencore Xstrata and Anglo American were all registering moderat
Read moreLondon close: All eyes on tonight's Fed meeting
19th Jun 2013 17:17
UK markets gave back Tuesday' slight gains as traders continued to take positions, or stay on the side lines, ahead of the all-important policy decision - and accompanying market reaction - from the US Federal Reserve due out later this evening. "Bernanke has two key messages that he wants to get a
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