BP beats earnings expectations and brings FTSE up too – London Report February 3, 2015 OIL COMPANIES, led by giant BP’s better-than-expected earnings report, bolstered the top index yesterday. The blue-chip FTSE 100 ended up 1.3 per cent at 6,871.80 points, near its highest level since September 2014. Intertek, whose services include testing products to make sure they comply with safety standards, rose 6.5 per cent – the best-performing FTSE [...]
Aggregates firm CRH lifts FTSE as oil drama goes on – London Report February 2, 2015 Irish building supplies groups CRH offset a drop in airlines after Ryanair warned on its profit outlook to push the FTSE index higher yesterday. Shares in CRH, one of the top gainers in the FTSE 100 index , rose 7.2 per cent after the company said it had agreed to pay €6.5bn (£4.9bn) for assets [...]
Oil lows hurt Shell but give EasyJet an easy ride on FTSE – London Report January 29, 2015 OIL GIANT Royal Dutch Shell weighed heavily on the FTSE-100 yesterday after it missed profit expectations. The blue-chip FTSE 100 index ended down 0.2 per cent at 6,810.60 points as Shell dropped 4.9 per cent, among the worst-performing FTSE 100 stocks in percentage terms. The company also announced a $15bn (£9.9bn) cut in spending due [...]
FTSE creeps higher as miners dig deep after price recovery – London Report January 28, 2015 BRITAIN’S top share index edged slightly higher yesterday, with miners gaining ground following a recovery in prices of key industrial metals such as copper and aluminium. The blue chip FTSE 100 index, which climbed to its highest level since mid-September on Tuesday, closed 0.2 per cent higher at 6,825.94 points. The UK mining index rose [...]
Greek debt fear makes banks drag FTSE down – London Report January 27, 2015 BANKS led the FTSE 100 index lower yesterday as they slipped on concerns the Greek crisis could spread while miners fell with weaker metals prices. It ended the blue-chip index’s eight-session run to a four-month high on Monday. Mid-cap oil producer Afren plunged 71 per cent after saying it was in talks with its largest [...]
Dixons Carphone share price falls 5 per cent after JP Morgan broker downgrade makes it the biggest faller on the FTSE 100 January 27, 2015 Dixons Carphone's share price fell as much as 5.6 per cent in early afternoon trade today, making it the biggest faller on the FTSE 100, after a broker downgrade. Morgan Stanley slashed the stock's rating to "underweight" from "equal weight," saying the shares were significantly overvalued and that it was "not a growth business." "While [...]
FTSE stays fresh but Coca-Cola HBC stock goes worse than flat – London Report January 26, 2015 THE FTSE closed at a fresh four-month high yesterday helped by a rebound in energy shares, although hefty falls in Greece-exposed Coca-Cola HBC capped gains. Heavyweight oil & gas majors BP, BG and Shell rebounded sharply in the afternoon after the secretary-general of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec), Abdullah al-Badri, said he [...]
Profit warnings at FTSE listed companies soar to crisis levels January 26, 2015 Profit warnings from UK-listed corporates hit a six-year high last year, despite stronger economic growth across the country. FTSE-listed firms issued 299 profit warnings last year up from 255 in 2013. The figure is the highest since the peak of the financial crisis in 2008. A fifth of the warnings were sparked by contract delays [...]
UK growth lift as FTSE aims to test 7,000 level – London week ahead January 25, 2015 THE FIRST estimate of GDP growth in the fourth quarter of 2014 looks set to deliver good news this week, with growth of around 0.6 per cent on the previous quarter and 2.8 per cent year-on-year. Howard Archer, of IHS Global Insight, said: “Ongoing robust services expansion likely ensured that GDP growth held up pretty [...]
Positive Pearson picture sends share price up leading FTSE higher January 21, 2015 Shares in Pearson were up as much as five per cent this morning leading the FTSE 100 higher as the education business and publisher of the Financial Times said it expects earnings at the top end of forecasts. Investors were cheered to learn that earnings for 2014 are expected to come in at 66 pence [...]