Fri, 03 Feb, 2012
Stocks were up at the day's best levels by lunchtime following a subdued start, with insurance outfit Admiral leading the charge. Miners on the other hand, are providing a drag, pulling back from their strong showing yesterday on the back of heightened M&A speculation in the sector.
Fri, 03 Feb, 2012
London's blue chip stocks were broadly flat in early trading on Friday, with investors cautious ahead of some key non-farm payroll data due out in the US later today.
Fri, 03 Feb, 2012
SECURITY/SUPPORT/RESISTANCE
Fri, 03 Feb, 2012
City sources predict the FTSE 100 will open down around 9 points from yesterday's close of 5,796, ahead of Friday's non-farm payrolls data, the first major US economic indicator relating to the month of January.
Thu, 02 Feb, 2012
After a morning session in the red, UK stocks erased losses in afternoon trading after some better-than-expected data Stateside helped the outlook for the world's largest economy. Leading the rise on the Footsie were the miners after some M&A rumours bolstered gains.
Thu, 02 Feb, 2012
Meanwhile, confirmation of a merger between Swiss commodities giants Glencore and Xstrata sent the two stocks to the top of the pile today, with Xstrata jumping 10% and Glencore rising 7%. A merger of mining outfit Xstrata and commodities trader Glencore could create a leviathan valued at around £52bn.
Thu, 02 Feb, 2012
Shares of waste management firm Shanks rose to pole position. The Daily Mail is reporting on speculation that a cash-rich private equity player, "possibly old foe Carlyle", could be ready to launch a full-scale offer for the company at up to 140p per share. This compares with yesterday's close of 99.85p.
Thu, 02 Feb, 2012
Xstrata/Glencore surge on merger talks
Mining strength outweighed by Astra, Unilever, Shell.
China considering increasing involvement in Eurozone rescue.
Thu, 02 Feb, 2012
Stocks opened slightly lower on Thursday, pulling back from the +100 point gain for the Footsie yesterday as markets celebrated positive global macroeconomic data with manufacturing indices in the UK, Eurozone, US and China all showing an improvement in January.
Thu, 02 Feb, 2012
City sources predict the FTSE 100 will open slightly higher, up 14 points from yesterday's close of 5,791, following strong gains in late trading on Wednesday.
Thu, 02 Feb, 2012
SECURITY/SUPPORT/RESISTANCE
Wed, 01 Feb, 2012
Schroders leads financial stocks higher as risk appetite increases.
Manufacturing data from UK, Europe, US and China well-received.
Greece 'one formal step away' from deal.
Wed, 01 Feb, 2012
Groceries delivery firm Ocado soared into pole position, extending gains made yesterday when it reported that gross sales, which include revenue plus value added tax (VAT) and marketing vouchers, rose 16.6% in the 52 weeks to November 27th to £642.8m from £551.1m the year before.
Wed, 01 Feb, 2012
Chip designer ARM Holdings proved to be the day's big faller, pulling back after yesterday's well-received results. The Financial Times' Lex column is today singing the virtues of ARM's "strong fundamentals", but adds that the company's valuation, at 47 times expected earnings, is "through the roof."
Wed, 01 Feb, 2012
Gains were extended by lunchtime after Eurozone manufacturing data suggested that the region may escape a recession. Financials were putting in a strong performance in London, led by ICAP which was rising over 7% at the midday mark.
