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  • London close: US debt uncertainty persists, Footsie finishes under

    Monday 25 Jul 2011

    The Footsie trimmed earlier gains as markets in the US recovered after a weak start. Despite falling as low as 5,893 on Monday, London's blue chip index finished firmly above the 5,900 mark, as giants BP, ARM, BG and GlaxoSmithKline rose ahead of their interim results due tomorrow. While stocks on Wall Street took a hit after the opening bell, the retreat wasn’t as bad as many had expected...

  • A triple whammy hits household finances

    Monday 25 Jul 2011

    Soaring prices, higher debt levels and a reduction in cash available to spend contributed to the strain on household finances in July, with 38% of households noting deteriorating financial situation, a Markit report showed. According to the Markit report, the the headline Markit Household Finance Index (HFI) – a measure...

  • Interest in Ceramic Fuel heats up

    Monday 25 Jul 2011

    Ceramic Fuel Cells charged higher Monday after it announced its largest ever order for its Bluegen units.

  • Market overview: FTSE 100 down 8

    Monday 25 Jul 2011

    1520: The top share index continued to drift lower after stocks on Wall Street declined sharply on Monday as President Obama and Congress failed to reach middle ground regarding raising the US debt ceiling and avoid a default. Banking stocks shed last week’s gains and dragged the index down. FTSE 100 down 8 at 5,926.

  • Hansen sails after accepting German bid

    Monday 25 Jul 2011

    It was a case of 'up, up and away' for wind turbine gear machinery maker Hansen Transmissions as it accepted a takeover offer from sector peer ZF Friedrichshafen.

  • Rising costs hit profits at Ryanair

    Monday 25 Jul 2011

    Despite Ryanair reporting strong sales growth in its first quarter, shares fell lower on Monday after profits came in well below expectations on the back of surging fuel costs.

  • London midday: Stocks fight back but stay lower

    Monday 25 Jul 2011

    London’s leading share index has recovered from this morning’s poor start, but remains a few points in the red. Today’s most notable recovery has come from FTSE 250-listed Domino’s Pizza. The pizza deliverer’s shares fell this morning after it posted a rise in first half profits amid a tough climate and said it was going to up ad spending to maintain sales growth.

  • Melrose considering raising Charter bid

    Monday 25 Jul 2011

    Engineering conglomerate Melrose said it is thinking over whether or not to up its bid for Charter International after the target dismissed its first two offers.

  • Premium tips: IMI, Derwent London, Capita...

    Monday 25 Jul 2011

    Expect another solid set of results from engineer IMI, says Credit Suisse. The broker predicts making no changes to its forecasts following the IMS in May, but keeps its neutral rating on the stock, saying that it believes that IMI is trading near fair value. Nevertheless, “Overall we expect IMI to be one of the less eventful sets of results which is encouraging given current uncertainty.” A

  • Wolseley to sell two businesses to France's Saint Gobain

    Monday 25 Jul 2011

    Wolseley has agreed to sell its UK building materials distribution business to Saint Gobain, and has entered into exclusive talks with the same company to sell its French plumbing and heating distribution unit for a total sum of £310m. The building and plumbing supplies giant Wolseley said the sale proceeds will be used to pay down debt.

  • Mortgage lending slowed down in June

    Monday 25 Jul 2011

    The rate of growth in net mortgage lending by the main high street banking groups slowed down in the month of June, to by £0.5bn, from £1.1bn the month before and versus the £1.0bn average monthly increase seen in the six months prior to June 2011, according to the latest figures just out from the British Bankers Association (BBA).

  • US midday: Stocks recoup most losses

    Monday 25 Jul 2011

    By midday the main US equity benchmarks are registering average falls of 0.2% (Dow Jones: 42 to 12,634, Nasdaq Comp.: -4 to 2,854, S&P 500: -3 to 1,341), following Moody´s decision to again downgrade Greece´s debt and the lack of an agreement in the US Congress on permanently reducing the budget deficit. Of particular importance, remarks from PIMCO chief executive officer, Mohammed

  • Private investors pour in €1.1bn for stake in Bank of Ireland

    Monday 25 Jul 2011

    A consortium of unidentified investors plan to invest up to €1.123bn to acquire a large stake in Bank of Ireland, which would help the embattled Irish lender escape majority state ownership. According to the deal, the State has agreed to sell 4.2bn shares, representing approximately 14% stake in the bank.

  • Premium broker snap: Credit Suisse raises numbers for Capita

    Monday 25 Jul 2011

    Credit Suisse has reiterated its outperform rating for Capita and raised its target price on the back of upgrades to earnings estimates, saying that “visibility on awards [is] improving.”

  • Broker snap: Tough trading ahead for Dixons, says UBS

    Monday 25 Jul 2011

    As the risks mount up at Dixons Retail, UBS downgrades the electricals retailer from neutral to sell, saying that trading is “set to remain tougher for longer”.

  • Vince Cable calls for BoE to expand QE

    Monday 25 Jul 2011

    Business secretary Vince Cable has pressed the Bank of England (BoE) to undertake a fresh round of quantitative easing in “more imaginative ways,” to jump start the British economy affected by soaring prices and weak growth.

  • Domino's Pizza triples ad spend as sales struggle

    Monday 25 Jul 2011

    Domino’s Pizza posted a sharp rise in first-half profits in the first half of the year despite the tough economic climate, but the pizza delivery group could see margins squeezed in the second half as it triples advertising spending. In the 26 weeks to 26 June, on a like-for-like basis sales growth was 2.4%, a sharp deceleration from the 13.7% growth seen the previous year.

  • London open: Stocks retreat after rally

    Monday 25 Jul 2011

    Stocks have given back some of the gains posted ahead of the weekend, with company updates failing to impress investors.

  • Sunday tips round-up: United Utilities, Flybe, Hilton Food

    Monday 25 Jul 2011

    While they have underperformed the market in the last two years, and although not cheap in terms of its forward PE multiple, the Questor team at The Telegraph believes that shares of United Utilities remain a buy. The above is due to the long-term potential of the water sector and the security afforded by the company´s dividend payments. Thus, they cite research from analysts at Citibank who are

  • London pre-open: Off to a weak start

    Monday 25 Jul 2011

    Shares are set to start the week on the back foot, with the Footsie tipped to duck back below 5,900, as investors wait on the Republicans and President Obama to agree on a package of measures that will ensure that the USA's debt ceiling is raised.

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