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London afternoon: Stocks drift off highest levels
Thu, 09 Feb, 2012
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London afternoon: Stocks drift off highest levels
Thu, 17 Jun 2010, 13:22:00
Leading shares saw their gains trimmed over the lunch time session, despite expectations of a firm start on Wall Street. BP and the banks continue to lead the market higher. Under fire oil giant <b>BP </b> remains the top performer after yesterday's meeting between BP officials and the US president. BP has cancelled dividends for the rest of the year and agreed to a demand from US president Obama to put $20bn in an escrow account to cover claims resulting from the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The UK company will pay $3bn into the escrow account in the third quarter of 2010 and $2bn in the fourth quarter. This will by followed by payments of $1.25bn a quarter until a total of $20bn has been reached. The amount of money going into escrow was higher than the market expected but the staggered nature of contributions went down well and if nothing else the market is relieved to know where BP stands now on escrow issue. Banks are wanted after Chancellor George Osborne's promise of a "new settlement between our banks and the rest of society" last night. In his maiden Mansion House speech, Osborne announced he would abolish the Financial Services Authority and give new powers to the Bank of England to help it regulate the UK financial sector. A successful Spanish bond sale, in which the Spanish government sold around €3.5bn of 10 year and 30 year bonds, has also boosted sentiment. The UK and France have also had successful bond auctions today. Part-nationalised banks <b>Royal Bank of Scotland </b>and <b>Lloyds Banking Group </b>are the stand-out stocks in the sector with <b>Standard Chartered </b>and <b>Barclays </b>not far behind. The Federal Court of Canada has blocked drugs giant <b>AstraZeneca</b>'s attempt to delay the launch of a generic version of Astra's gastrointestinal disease treatment, Nexium. <b>Hammerson</b>, the UK property giant, is selling a majority stake in a shopping centre near Paris, though it will continue to manage the asset. Property giant <b>Land Securities</b> has sold an unfinished development in London's West End for £250m plus construction costs. Computer gaming retailer <b>Game Group</b> has announced a former <b>Vodafone</b> man as its new chief executive officer, though he will inherit control of a company facing declining sales. The group has appointed Ian Shepherd as its new chief executive. In an update on recent trading the group said in the 19 week period to 12 June total group sales were 11.4% lower than a year earlier. Design and engineering firm<b> WS Atkins</b> reported a 5.9% drop in full-year pre-tax profits, but the fall was not as steep as feared. Pre-tax profit came to £96.6m for the year to 31 March, down from £102.70m the year before. The group was forecast to announce pre-tax profits of £89.3m. Equipment rental group <b>Ashtead</b> saw underlying full year earnings tumble but has seen some signs of improvement in the fourth quarter, especially in the US, where it makes the bulk of its money. Kazakhstan focused gold and copper company <b>Frontier Mining</b> said pre-tax losses swelled to $30.3m in 2009 from a loss of $5m the year before. Luxury handbag maker <b>Mulberry</b> revealed a 22% rise in full year profit as consumers flocked to buy products from its Alexa handbag range. Water filters and filtration systems firm <b>Amiad</b> has warned that first half revenues and profits are likely to miss forecasts as it struggles to negotiate the economic downturn. Shares in <b>Tinci</b> fell despite a rise in pre-tax profits as the China-based environmental engineering company warned that flue gas desulphurization (FGD) system sales will slow in 2010. <b>DDD Group</b>, the 3D software specialist, has expanded the scope of its licence agreement with Samsung Electronics which allows the Korean manufacturing giant to use DDD's automatic 2D to 3D conversion technology in Samsung's new 3D consumer displays and devices.
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