London midday: FTSE near six-week low as rate-hike speculation sinks housebuilders

Friday 13 Jun 2014

The increased possibility of a rate hike before the end of the year prompted investors to offload stocks in the housing sector on Friday, with the FTSE 100 set to close at its lowest level in one and a half months.

FTSE 100 movers: Oil stocks gain as housing stocks dive

Friday 13 Jun 2014

Oil and gas stocks were among the handful of names making gains today as share prices tracked oil prices higher, with Shell, BG Group and BP on the rise.

Numis sees upside at Mitchells & Butlers through Orchid deal

Friday 13 Jun 2014

Numis Securities has maintained a 'buy' rating for Mitchells & Butlers (M&B) and upgraded its forecasts after the pub group's £266m acquisition of the Orchid Group estate.

Intel lifts revenues guidance on strong demand for business PCs

Friday 13 Jun 2014

US tech giant Intel has said it now expects revenues to grow in 2014 after stronger-than-expected demand resulted in a solid second quarter.

Ultra Electronics expands nuclear capacity with Lab Impex Systems

Friday 13 Jun 2014

FTSE 250-listed Ultra Electronics announced that it has acquired nuclear services firm Lab Impex Systems (LIS) for £3.2m in cash from private investors.

Friday newspaper round-up: Oil prices, Mortgage lending, SSE...

Friday 13 Jun 2014

Oil prices surged to a three-year high after insurgents took control of Iraq’s second city and threatened to advance on Baghdad amid fears that the escalating conflict would disrupt oil exports. The price of Brent crude in London jumped $2 to hit $112 a barrel at one point yesterday, a level last seen at the outbreak of the Arab Spring in 2011. Christopher Bellew, a trader at Jefferies Bache, the

S&P raises outlook on UK´s sovereign debt ratings to

Thursday 12 Jun 2014

Ratings agency Standard&Poor´s (S&P) has revised its outlook on the UK´s triple-A credit rating to 'stable' from 'negative'.

USD/JPY: BoJ Governor sees no reason for yen strength versus euro

Thursday 12 Jun 2014

The USD/JPY slowly recovered from this month's low at 101.59 throughout Friday's trading session even after the Bank of Japan (BOJ) remained very upbeat about overseas growth and its ability to meet its inflation target without additional monetary stimulus.

Market overview: Lonmin rockets as AMCU takes offer to employees

Thursday 12 Jun 2014

London close: FTSE closes modestly higher

Thursday 12 Jun 2014

London-listed stocks ended the day marginally higher, coming off this morning's lows, although the gains were limited by data releases in the US and a poor performance by the mining sector.

Northgate completes refinancing

Thursday 12 Jun 2014

Northgate said it has completed its refinancing to boost the light commercial vehicle hire company’s balance sheet.

Wednesday preview: Fed announces policy decision

Thursday 12 Jun 2014

The Federal Reserve is expected to announce a further tapering of quantitative easing on Wednesday when the central bank wraps up its policy meeting.

Millenium & Copthorne completes acquisition of Novotel in NYC

Thursday 12 Jun 2014

Hotels group Millennium & Copthorne has completed the acquisition of the Novotel New York Times Square hotel in New York City.

RBC Capital Markets downgrades Aggreko after board shake-up

Thursday 12 Jun 2014

RBC Capital Markets has blamed management changes for its decision to downgrade electricity generator rental group Aggreko to sector perform from outperform.

Investec downgrades RBS to 'sell' after recent run

Thursday 12 Jun 2014

Investec has cut its rating for Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) from 'hold' to 'sell', saying it sees downside after a recent run in the share price.

London pre-open: Modest gain expected on FTSE

Thursday 12 Jun 2014

UK-listed stocks are expected to move slightly higher early on today, reversing some of Wednesday's losses as investors gear up for what is set to be a somewhat heavier session in terms of macro data.

How to hedge against the conflict in Northern Iraq

Wednesday 11 Jun 2014

While market participants have already initiated some risk reduction across asset classes as a result of Islamist extremists in Iraq taking over several towns and cities, analysts at Barclays believe that shorting the EUR/JPY is the best hedge.

PZ Cussons' profit growth held back by FX

Wednesday 11 Jun 2014

Consumer products group PZ Cussons said that annual profits will be ahead of last year but adverse currency movements will have a big impact on growth.

Thursday newspaper round-up: Mosul, Housing market, Al-Qaeda

Wednesday 11 Jun 2014

Open warfare between the government and rebels in Iraq would pose a threat to the global economic recovery should oil production from the war-torn Middle East state suffer a serious disruption, analysts have warned. Brent oil prices climbed as high as $110.25 (£65.59) on Wednesday amid concerns that 3.5m barrels per day of Iraqi exports could be knocked out of the market by the violence that has

London close: Ex-divs, airlines, global forecast weigh FTSE down

Wednesday 11 Jun 2014

London's blue chips finished today's session firmly lower, weighed down by stocks going ex-dividend, airlines, and a reduction in the World Bank's global forecast.