London close: Blue chips slip lower
16th Oct 2009 16:50
London's blue chips closed lower as investors used a 100 point plus fall for the Dow as an excuse to take profits. Many of the major commodity plays, including Xstrata, Rio Tinto and Anglo American had enjoyed gains in early deals, but investors lost interest late morning. Oil plays BP, Royal Dutc
Read moreLondon close: Best finish in 12½ months
12th Oct 2009 16:48
UK share prices finished at their best levels in over a year Monday and, despite a few sellers appearing late on, the FTSE 100 ended the session above 5,200. Insurers Old Mutual, Standard Life and Legal & General were in demand all day. Rising stock markets are always good news for their investment
Read moreLondon afternoon: Banks' balance sheet issues resurface
12th Oct 2009 14:23
The Footsie crashed through the 5200 barrier this morning to rise to a one-year high and although prices came off the top over the lunch-time session, the vast majority of blue-chips are still in the blue. The upward trend in global equity markets is good news for the insurers and their investment
Read moreLondon midday: Footsie at year-high
12th Oct 2009 12:07
London's blue chips hit their best level since September last year as buyers charged in again following the strong performance on Wall Street last week. There are strong risers in most sectors with the notable exception of banks where Barclays and Lloyds Banking are both lower. Banking giant Barcl
Read moreSector movers: Vodafone lifts mobile phone sector
12th Oct 2009 09:29
Mobile phone stocks are in demand, including Vodafone, which has announced plans move its US listing from the New York Stock Exchange to NASDAQ to save on listing fees. Elsewhere in the sector, iPoint-Media, Inmarsat and Getmobile Europe are going well. The health care and equipment sector is a bi
Read moreLondon open: London makes healthy start
12th Oct 2009 08:50
London has made a bright start helped by the strong finish to last week on Wall Street. Index heavyweight Vodafone is ahead along with Unilever, Shire and Segro as buyers dominate. Only Invensys and Randgold Resources are significantly in the red. Banking giant Barclays is lower despite reports it
Read moreWednesday tips round-up: Compass, Moss Bros, Close Brothers
30th Sep 2009 06:45
Caterer Compass shares trade on a 2009 price earnings rating of 12.7 times, and offering a dividend yield of 3.7%, there are certainly better value stocks around, but Compass is a core holding; an investment to add to the portfolio and not worry about. Investors should take the chance to stock up. B
Read moreLondon afternoon: Back to square one
29th Sep 2009 14:34
It's back to square one for the Footsie which is barely changed on the day, with gains on banks and insurers counterbalanced by miners and property stocks. Swiss bank Credit Suisse has issued a bearish note on the property sector prompting the likes of Land Securities, SEGRO and Hammerson to shift
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Compass points higher
29th Sep 2009 11:51
Contract caterer Compass is pointing higher after it reported trading has gone well in the fourth quarter with underlying earnings to be up by around 14% on a constant currency basis. Operating profit will get a boost of £120m from the movement of our key currencies compared with last year. Rumours
Read moreVodafone to miss festive rush for iPhones
29th Sep 2009 11:35
Vodafone will begin selling Apple's iPhone in the UK, but not until the new year, leaving Orange and O2 to fight over sales during the lucrative Christmas period. France Telecom-owned Orange yesterday won the right to sell the iconic mobile alongside Telefonica's O2, which has had an exclusive cont
Read moreSunday tips round-up: Vodafone, IndigoVision, Songbird
27th Sep 2009 19:00
Perhaps most pleasing of all for investors of Vodafone is that it appears to have abandoned its aggressive expansion. Instead it is focused on cost savings and grinding out the cash flow, which makes the dividend payouts look that bit safer. The shares are trading on around 10 times forecast earning
Read moreWednesday newspaper round-up: Orange/T-Mobile, Cadbury, Burberry
9th Sep 2009 06:09
The planned merger of Orange and T-Mobile faces an uphill battle to convince competition authorities that the creation of Britain's biggest mobile phone company should be allowed to proceed. Independent competition lawyers questioned whether a super operator with 29.1m customers and a 39% revenue s
Read moreOrange and T-Mobile hook-up may be faulty connection
8th Sep 2009 15:12
BT used to run an advert in which actor Bob Hoskins proclaimed 'it's good to talk,' and it's a sentiment with which BT's European rivals seem to concur based on this week's announcements of closer ties in the mobile phone market. Spanish firm Telefonica announced plans on Monday to strengthen its t
Read moreTuesday newspaper round-up: T-Mobile, Cadbury, National Express
8th Sep 2009 06:12
Deutsche Telekom, the owner of T-Mobile, has decided to pursue a joint venture in the UK with Orange rather than an outright sale of its British division. A future with Orange, owned by France Télécom, would create a new market leader, pushing Telefónica's O2 off the top spot, with 37% of the UK mo
Read moreTelecoms companies in mood to talk to each other
7th Sep 2009 15:11
Spanish telecoms giant Telefonica is to increase its stake in Chinese counterpart China Unicom in a deal that will deepen the alliance between the two companies. Each company will buy $1bn worth of shares in the other. As a result, Telefonica's shareholding in China Unicom will rise to 8.06% while
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