London close: Footsie finishes higher after late rally
25th May 2012 17:00
- Consumers upbeat in US, Germany - Germany adviser says Greek bailout terms should be changed - Greek uncertainty still apparent The FTSE 100 rallied to close slightly higher on Friday, helped by some positive consumer confidence data in the US and Germany, but gains were limited as the focus cont
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Miners out of favour on Chinese reports
25th May 2012 16:05
Mining stocks were firmly out of favour on reports that China's banks could miss their 2012 loan targets, exacerbating concerns over a slowdown in the world's second-largest economy which is a source of strong demand for commodities. Fresnillo, Randgold, Vedanta and ENRC were among the worst perform
Read moreLondon midday: Miners drag the Footsie lower
25th May 2012 11:30
-Miners erase gains for Footsie -German consumer confidence holds steady -Greek polls show uncertainty With miners extending losses, the Footsie had slipped to below where it started by Friday lunchtime, as the uncertain future of Greece continues to cloud the outlook for the global economy. Stock
Read moreFriday broker round-up -UPDATE
25th May 2012 09:16
Aggreko: HSBC upgrades from neutral to overweight. Bumi: Nomura slashes target to 860p from 1,000p, stays at neutral. British Petroleum: Credit Suisse retains outperform, cuts target to 540p from 550p. ARM Holdings: UBS upgrades from neutral to buy, target lifted from 620p to 630p. BAE Systems
Read moreLondon open: German confidence data boosts stocks
25th May 2012 08:28
The FTSE 100 edged higher in early trade on Friday morning on a relatively quiet day for company news after German consumer confidence data lifted sentiment. GfK said that its forward-looking German consumer confidence index held steady at 5.7 points for June, unchanged from May. "Consumer sentimen
Read moreLondon close: Stocks surge as JPMorgan hints at ECB stimulus
24th May 2012 16:38
-JP Morgan suggests ECB rate cut, LTRO restart -EU leaders make little progress -UK contracts more than expected in Q1 An underwhelming EU summit and a barrage of disappointing economic figures failed to hold back gains on Thursday, as the Footsie rebounded following yesterday's steep sell-off. C
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Commodities get a boost
24th May 2012 15:59
Commodities prices improved on Thursday, buoying the share prices of some blue-chip miners and oil stocks, including Randgold, Vedanta, Amec, BP and BG Group. United Utilities was higher after saying that it has seen a marked improvement in customer satisfaction in the last year or so, and it is
Read moreLondon midday: Stocks shrug off gloomy economic data
24th May 2012 11:45
- Stocks surge after yesterday's heavy falls despite Eurozone travails - China, Eurozone PMIs disappoint - UK contracts more than expected in Q1 Equity markets across Europe on Thursday were seemingly ignoring a barrage of disappointing economic data and last night's underwhelming EU summit, as sto
Read moreThursday broker round-up - UPDATE
24th May 2012 09:27
ARM Holdings: Jefferies reiterates buy recommendation and 485p target. ASOS: Investec keeps hold rating and 1,250p target. AstraZeneca: AlphaValue upgrades to BUY from add. Booker: Panmure Gordon upgrades from hold to buy. Bowleven: UBS slashes target from 105p to 70p, neutral rating unchanged.
Read moreLondon open: Stocks rebound after heavy sell-off
24th May 2012 08:45
- EU leaders clash over Eurobonds - Chinese manufacturing continues to contract - Financials wanted after recent sell-off Equity markets shrugged off an underwhelming EU summit and some disappointing Chinese data on Thursday morning to rebound following a heavy sell-off yesterday. The outcome of l
Read moreUU on track to meet regulatory targets
24th May 2012 07:16
United Utilities said it has seen a marked improvement in customer satisfaction in the last year or so, and it is on track to meet regulatory out-performance targets. The utilities provider's revenue in the year to March 31st rose to £1,564.9m from £1,513.3m the year before. Underlying profit befor
Read moreThursday preview: United Utlities, ASOS, UK GDP
23rd May 2012 16:13
Tin hats will need to be at the ready on Thursday morning as a barrage of company results is expected. With the market in disarray again, the defensive qualities of United Utilities (UU) might interest a few risk averse investors. The company has already issued a pre-closed period trading update i
Read moreLondon close: Stocks rebound, EU summit eyed
21st May 2012 17:14
- G8 underwhelms; markets look to EU summit - Hollande expected to push eurobond idea to Merkel - Risk-on as financials, miners advance; defensives sold London's FTSE 100 finished firmly higher on Monday following a poor performance last week which saw the blue chip index slump to its worst levels
Read moreLondon close: US sentiment data sparks late rally
11th May 2012 16:36
- US consumer sentiment at post-recession high - Banks weighed down by JP Morgan surprise trading loss - Miners pressured lower by Chinese data After a weak start, the FTSE 100 surged in afternoon trade on the back of some upbeat consumer sentiment data Stateside which helped to offset gloomy econo
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Banks and miners dive as utilities climb higher
11th May 2012 15:03
Banks were heavy fallers in the opening hour on the back of the JP Morgan surprise trading loss. Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds and HSBC were all among the worst performers. One stock in the financial sector bucking the trend though was hedge fund manager Man Group, which jumped after an u
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