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Market Report: Foundry's fortune is going volcanic

Sat, 03 Aug 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Steelmaker and foundry mould maker Cookson lived up to its new name today when it spurted up more than 9 per cent.

Market Report: Shell shocks market as profits dive 60 per cent

Fri, 02 Aug 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Investors in the world's second-biggest listed oil group were yesterday left shell-shocked after news of a 60 per cent fall in profits. Royal Dutch Shell's second-quarter results were 23 per cent below analysts' consensus forecasts and Richard Curr, head of dealing at broker Prime Markets, said they "came totally out of the blue".

Market Report: City breaks out the booze and cigarettes

Thu, 01 Aug 2013 00:00:00 +0100

The City was hoping it would not wake up with a hangover today after booze and fag sellers boosted the blue-chip index yesterday to the highest point in a week. Good results from British American Tobacco, spirits giant Diageo and Belgian-based beer group AB InBev pushed peers SAB Miller and Imperial Tobacco towards the top of the table.

Market Report: Investors in gold rush out of African Barrick

Wed, 31 Jul 2013 00:00:00 +0100

News of a high court claim against African Barrick Gold over the deaths of Tanzanians tarnished its shares on a day when it revealed $185m of cost cuts.

Market Report: Barclays eyes a £5bn share sale to plug hole

Tue, 30 Jul 2013 01:54:01 +0100

Banks have disappointed government and they have disappointed the public, and yesterday Barclays disappointed the City. This time, the crushing disappointment wasn’t due to mis- selling or big bonuses – Barclays yesterday frustrated the Square Mile when it emerged it will pursue a £5bn-plus rights issue to plug the perceived hole in its balance sheet that the Bank of England’s capital requirements have revealed.

Investment View: Buying the story too often means believing fiction

Tue, 30 Jul 2013 01:47:34 +0100

It is in our DNA to love a good story. You know, neat tales with heroes and villains and conflicts to resolve. A good story pushes our buttons, is exciting and memorable. So it should come as no surprise that Wall Street also loves a good story. And when Wall Street spins a yarn, its emotional pitch drives sales.

Market Report: Rolls-Royce comes back down to earth

Sat, 27 Jul 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Rolls-Royce enjoyed a day of flying high on Thursday after the aircraft engine maker reported first-half results ahead of expectations. But the shares went into a nosedive yesterday, following a downgrade from Deutsche Bank.

Investment View: Why Burberry is clicking with me as one to keep

Fri, 26 Jul 2013 00:00:00 +0100

We've seen a fair amount of shops reporting over the past couple of weeks, with a number of trading statements coming out, so I'm going to run the slide rule over a few of the more interesting stocks in the sector.

Market Report: Drugs do work as Shire hits new high

Fri, 26 Jul 2013 00:00:00 +0100

On a day when traders' screens turned red and the market dived more than 30 points, Shire was breaking records.

Market Report: Heatwave goes down well at Wetherspoon

Thu, 25 Jul 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Thirsty traders were diving into the pubs group JD Wetherspoon as the heatwave helped to sell more pints and glasses of Pimm's. Wetherspoon raised its profit guidance for the year and the chairman and founder, Tim Martin, said he was "more bullish" after the positive period.

Market Report: Switch by Samsung hurts Imagination

Wed, 24 Jul 2013 00:49:25 +0100

A decision out of South Korea to use microchips designed in Cambridge rather than Kings Langley in Hertfordshire caused Imagination Technologies to tumble to the bottom spot on the mid cap index yesterday.

Market Report: Fresh licence lifts Bahamas Petroleum

Tue, 23 Jul 2013 03:58:45 +0100

As the UK was braced for tropical weather with storms on the way, punters decided a bet on an oil explorer in the Bahamas was appropriate yesterday. Bahamas Petroleum gushed as much as 20 per cent in morning trade on news that it had got its licences renewed and extended by the Bahamas Government and the Ministry of the Environment.

Fat Face dives into American market

Tue, 23 Jul 2013 03:53:28 +0100

The us has proved a graveyard for many of Britain’s retailers but the casual clothing chain Fat Face said yesterday it was “confident” about launching there.

Market Report: National Grid basks in the heatwaves

Sat, 20 Jul 2013 01:17:25 +0100

Heatwaves across the UK and the US warmed up interest in energy group National Grid yesterday.

Market Report: ECB rule change is good news for RBS

Fri, 19 Jul 2013 01:32:24 +0100

Frankfurt rarely issues diktats that are helpful to the UK’s banks, but yesterday a rule change meant that taxpayer-backed Royal Bank of Scotland was the order of the day for investors. News of a change to the way the European Central Bank views loans on banks’ balance sheets helped RBS up nearly 4 per cent.

Market Report: Miner Hochschild climbs on cost cuts

Wed, 17 Jul 2013 23:36:08 +0100

The City isn’t known for penny-pinching, but news that a mining company was taking control of spending, slashing bosses’ pay and culling the number of executives sent it to the top of the mid-tier index.

Market Report: Upbeat Rio digs the miners out of a hole

Wed, 17 Jul 2013 01:28:07 +0100

The City forgot its fears about a major slowdown for Asia’s powerhouse when the miner Rio Tinto revealed its optimistic growth outlook yesterday.Miners slumped recently on the prospects of a slowdown in China but Rio’s update that iron ore shipments were ahead 1 per cent compared with the same period last year and 7 per cent against the first three months of the year helped it to take a spot near the top of the benchmark index.

Market Report: Film has bad ending for Reckitt Benckiser

Sat, 13 Jul 2013 00:28:15 +0100

A decision by America's largest pharmacy group dispensed a large dose of panic yesterday to shareholders in the consumer goods group Reckitt Benckiser.

Investment View: It may be time to leave the cinema and give up pizza

Fri, 12 Jul 2013 00:00:00 +0100

In this column I've often said hold for the long term, even when a stock looks pricey. There is a good reason for this. Dipping in and out of stocks is a risky business. You can easily make the wrong call. I'm not immune. Nor are some of the City's highest-paid fund managers.

Market Report: Genel curbs fears over Kurdish oil

Fri, 12 Jul 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Stop worrying about the risks of getting oil out of Kurdistan, City scribblers declared yesterday – Genel Energy has proved it is viable. UBS brokers think the fact former BP boss Tony Hayward's Genel has successfully managed to transport the lucrative black stuff out of the region is a reason to buy its shares.

Market Report: More woe for G4S as stock buckles

Thu, 11 Jul 2013 00:00:00 +0100

The City took a look at the demand for heavies, bouncers and security guards yesterday and the conclusion is: it's tough. Scribblers at Goldman Sachs think "poor industry dynamics in security end-markets" is bad news for the security specialist G4S.

Market Report: Improving news digs miners out of trouble

Wed, 10 Jul 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Miners managed to dig themselves out yesterday after weeks of being in the red as the US bellwether Alcoa reported better than expected results. The aluminium producer is the first to report earnings in the US each quarter, and beat expectations this time around. This, combined with better economic news across the board, a rise in metal prices and news of falling Chinese production costs sent metal miners soaring.

Investment View: Keep faith with Arm despite the Intel challenge

Tue, 09 Jul 2013 02:07:28 +0100

Intel's desire to break Arm's dominance of the mobile chip market hasn't been any secret. But it is only quite recently that the City has really started to fret about it. Arm shares, flirting with an £11 close in May, have since lost almost a third of their value – a stunning fall.

Market Report: RBS investors bank on blocking split

Tue, 09 Jul 2013 02:07:28 +0100

Rumours that small shareholders may be able to veto George Osborne's plan for a good bank/bad bank split of Royal Bank of Scotland were a reason to pile into the shares yesterday. If minority investors in the taxpayer-owned bank could block a break-up proposed by the UK government then there is hope for the bank, the City decided.

Market Report: Miners in a hole after dollar soars

Sat, 06 Jul 2013 01:15:51 +0100

A better-than-expected US jobs report pushed the dollar up, which in turn melted metal prices yesterday and miners ended up buried at the bottom of the blue-chip index.

Market Report: Chancellor's chop good news for RBS

Fri, 05 Jul 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Axe swinging by George Osborne at Royal Bank of Scotland's (RBS) investment banking arm helped it to achieve top spot on the blue-chip index yesterday.

Market Report: Tullow Oil gushing after find in Africa

Thu, 04 Jul 2013 01:02:28 +0100

While traders despaired following news from Egypt, Portugal and China, Kenya was a reason to be cheerful. The East African oil explorer Tullow Oil enticed investors with news of forecast-beating half-year numbers and a new oil discovery.

Market Report: Serco transported to new high by US deal

Wed, 03 Jul 2013 00:00:00 +0100

The company that operates Boris bikes, prisons and hospitals was a picture of health yesterday following news of a big contract win in the US.

Market Report: Travis Perkins gets built up to top spot

Tue, 02 Jul 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Punters were betting that builders' merchants will benefit from the stream of new homeowners. New data yesterday revealed that house prices, mortgage approvals and home sales are all up. Investors think the strong housing market will prove a tonic for the new blue-chip entrant Travis Perkins, the builders' merchant that also owns Wickes. It built up more than a 5 per cent gain and took the top spot on the benchmark index yesterday.

Market Report: Sell-off news lifts Lloyds, dashes RBS

Sat, 29 Jun 2013 02:02:26 +0100

The Government fired the starting gun on the reprivatisation of state-backed Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland yesterday, setting a deadline of 8 July for banks to submit bids as advisers on the sale.

Market Report: Smiths' crisp rises as Footsie recovers

Fri, 28 Jun 2013 00:00:00 +0100

England's most common surname proved a coincidental hit with investors yesterday as the City's leading share index showed further signs of recovery. Smiths Group, the technology specialist which makes X-ray machines and detectors to check cargo freight for explosives, rose 49p to 1,319p after an upgrade from analysts at UBS.

Market Report: Afren strikes oil off Nigeria to end slump

Thu, 27 Jun 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Investors in Afren had a day in the sun yesterday after the oil exploration firm made a major discovery off the coast of Nigeria. It has been an overcast year so far for shareholders, with Afren's shares having been on the slide. But yesterday it unveiled some successful drilling in Nigeria.

Market Report: Time to add M&S to your shopping list

Wed, 26 Jun 2013 00:00:00 +0100

It could be time to scratch department store Debenhams from the shopping list and add high street bellwether Marks & Spencer, City shop watchers said yesterday. Panmure Gordon's Jean Roche thinks M&S may well have improved "under the guidance of John Dixon and Belinda Earl", who were brought in by chief executive Marc Bolland as executive director of general merchandise and style director earlier this year.

Market Report: Citi - BT’s on the ball with TV sports deal

Sat, 22 Jun 2013 01:23:26 +0100

BT may have hit the back of the net with its new free TV sports channel, according to analysts at Citi.

Market Report: Lloyds short-sellers get fingers burnt

Fri, 21 Jun 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Hedge funds and short-sellers had to learn not to bank on shares going one way yesterday. A bunch of short-sellers who have been buying up Lloyds Banking Group over the past month were yesterday desperately trying to cover their positions. This followed the confirmation of government plans to privatise the bank sooner rather than later.

Market Report: Springer sale puts focus on Informa

Thu, 20 Jun 2013 00:00:00 +0100

News of a €3bn (£2.6bn) takeover of a German publisher yesterday pushed punters towards Informa. The world's second-largest publisher of scientific research journals, Springer Science + Business Media, has been bought by the private equity firm BC Partners.

Market Report: BAE lifted by hopes more deals are in air

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Jet makers were yesterday fighting to show what lucrative contracts they are close to securing at the Paris Air Show, and punters flew in to BAE Systems on hopes it is close to agreeing long-awaited Middle Eastern deals.

Market Report: Vodafone rings up gains amid bid talk

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Takeover rumours buzzed around the telecoms sector again yesterday, helping Vodafone call up a spot among the blue-chip risers. Vodafone, which is said to be poised to raise its £6bn-plus takeover approach for German cable company Kabel Deutschland, had been nursing losses last week, falling below 180p. But bargain hunters returned yesterday amid speculation that US giant AT&T was linked to an approach for Spain's Telefonica, the owner of British mobile network O2.

Market Report: Bargain-hunters take shine to miners

Sat, 15 Jun 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Bargain-hunters who began their spending spree on Thursday afternoon continued yesterday, and decided mining stocks were still a snip as they piled in. The gold miner Randgold Resources was shining toward the top of the benchmark index and added 122p to 4,881p, while Vedanta Resources put on 27p to 1,212p.

Investment Column: Uncertainty has made RBS a gambler's stock

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 00:00:00 +0100

We've seen the City's reaction to Stephen Hester's departure from RBS, and it's not pretty. If you had shares in the bank on the day it was announced you would have woken up to find them worth quite a bit less.

Market Report: Bargain-hunters put brakes on FTSE fall

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 00:00:00 +0100

The City showed just how capricious it could be yesterday: the market was nearly written-off as another day in the red when buyers came back in looking for bargains during the afternoon session. What would have been the fourth day of falls, prompted by fears of an end to central bank monetary stimulus, was turned around by bargain-hunters who pushed the benchmark index up five points into the green.

Market Report: Metal fatigue sees Russians exit FTSE

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 00:00:00 +0100

The Russian gold miner Polymetal gave one last push to hang on to blue-chip status yesterday, but despite a 1.7 per cent rally, it failed. Polymetal joins a fellow Russian metals group, the steel maker Evraz, who will both shuffle out of the top pack. Last night was the cut-off point for the FTSE Group to declare who is in and who is out of this quarter's reorganisation.

Market Report: Long faces among Ocado short sellers

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 23:16:39 +0100

Short sellers in the grocery specialist Ocado got the life squeezed out of them for a second day. The online grocery distribution group was a favourite of the hedge fund community as one to bet against – more than 87 million shares were out on loan in February. But a run of good news, including its distribution tie-up with Morrisons and now rumours that it might be looking at something similar with Marks & Spencer, hasn't helped the shorters' positions. Since the end of last month the number of shares out on loan has fallen by almost 13 per cent.

Investment View: Primark still the place to be, if you can stomach it

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Are shares in Associated British Foods starting to get overcooked? That may not be the most appropriate analogy for the company because its spiciest subsidiary has nothing to do with foods or ingredients. It's Primark, whose clothes are never knowingly overpriced. The shares in its parent might be, however.

Market Report: Severn Trent dives as bid failure looms

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Severn Trent shares fell almost 6 per cent as it appeared increasingly likely that a £5.3bn takeover bid from the LongRiver consortium, which is made up of Ontario pension fund Omers' infrastructure arm Borealis, the Kuwaiti Investment Office and the UK Universities Superannuation Fund, would fail.

Market Report: Samsung suppliers hit by Galaxy cloud

Sat, 08 Jun 2013 03:52:45 +0100

Back in April, Samsung’s Galaxy S4 smartphone was the hottest device around, but fears that demand has waned swept the stock market yesterday and investors hung up on its suppliers.

Market Report: Finance shares hit by ECB growth cut

Fri, 07 Jun 2013 00:00:00 +0100

A widespread market sell-off, prompted by a growth forecast cut from the European Central Bank, left the UK's financial stocks at the bottom of the pile yesterday. But the City marked out one notable exception: scribblers at HSBC reckon Michael Spencer's interdealer broker Icap is worth a look.

Market Report: Man slumps after bond market losses

Thu, 06 Jun 2013 00:00:00 +0100

The fortunes of Man Group took another turn for the worst yesterday after its flagship AHL Fund suffered a loss that wiped out all of its 2013 gains. The hedge fund, which has been trying to plug billions of pounds-worth of client redemptions, said the value of AHL fell 8.5 per cent in May and 6.1 per cent last week due to losses in the bond markets.

Market Report: GKN finds new gear as City praises deals

Wed, 05 Jun 2013 00:00:00 +0100

The car and aerospace components company GKN hit a 14-year high after analysts at UBS praised its recent acquisitions as "transformative". Scribblers at the bank reckon the recent purchases of the Getrag and Volvo Aero businesses have "strengthened GKN's strategic position in both of its key markets – aerospace and autos".

Market Report: New microchip fails to halt Arm's slide

Tue, 04 Jun 2013 00:57:28 +0100

Smartphone microchip maker Arm Holdings continued its slide yesterday despite launching a new processor that it hopes will lift its fortunes.The Cambridge-based company, whose processors are used in Apple's iPhone as well as Samsung and other smartphones, unveiled its Cortex A-12 Processor, hoping it will defend its over 90 per cent share of the mid-range mobile market.

Market Report: Halfords is revving up after UBS boost

Sat, 01 Jun 2013 01:32:16 +0100

Investors piled into Halfords yesterday following an upgrade from analysts at UBS, which sent shares in the car repair-to-bikes retailer racing up 19p to 329p. The company has had a mixed time of late and last week admitted profits will fall over the next two years while it invests £100m to turn around its performance.

Investment View: If you want a tip, ignore the old saying and keep hold of your shares

Fri, 31 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Sell in May and go away, buy again on Leger day. It's one of those famous stock market sayings. The proverb holds that you should enjoy an extended spring/summer break from stocks and shares until Britain's oldest classic horse race has been run at Doncaster on Saturday 14 September. When you should pile back in.

Market Report: It's still hard to size up Marks & Spencer

Fri, 31 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Three years after taking the helm at the British retail bell-wether, Marks & Spencer's boss Marc Bolland is still dividing opinion. Most of the debate centres on whether the former Morrisons chief executive has got the gumption to turn around the retailer's clothing arm, and yesterday was no different amid a stream of conflicting opinions from company watchers in the Square Mile.

Market Report: Dividend fears cause National Grid tumble

Thu, 30 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100

The power was pulled from National Grid amid fears of a dividend cut as the wider London market also took a tumble yesterday. Vague rumours that the energy company could cut its dividend sent it to the bottom of the benchmark index.

Market Report: New mining controls hurt Anglo American

Wed, 29 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Fears of government intervention for miners in South Africa tarnished Anglo American on a day of rock solid gains for the rest of the benchmark index yesterday after the country's mineral resources minister Susan Shabangu told its parliament of plans of "supply and demand side interventions".

The Week Ahead: Has Barr-Britvic deal bubble burst?

Tue, 28 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Tuesday

Market Report: Rough ride endured by rattled retailers

Sat, 25 May 2013 01:19:21 +0100

Retailers had a tough time on the markets yesterday, with analysts sticking the knife in and investors dumping stock as the FTSE ended its month-long climb.

Market Report: Investors rattled by overhaul at Pearson

Fri, 24 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100

New Pearson chief executive John Fallon looks to be on a mission to reshape the education giant in dramatic fashion, but the market did not seem convinced by his plans for a sweeping reorganisation.

Market Report: Morrisons on shelf after shares sell-off

Thu, 23 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100

The supermarket chain Morrisons enjoyed a day in the sun last week after it unveiled a 25-year, £170m licensing deal with Ocado to help it launch food online next year. But yesterday, the UK's fourth-biggest grocer was back in the shade after an institutional investor offloaded a large chunk of shares. Morrisons fell 6.7p to 282.6p, while traders waking up to mixed sales data from the supermarket might have also decided to put their money in the baskets of rivals Sainsbury's and Tesco.

Market Report: Plunge in revenues makes bwin a loser

Wed, 22 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100

The odds were stacked against bwin.party yesterday after a 17 per cent fall in first-quarter revenues. The FTSE 250 gambling group, which is best-known for sponsoring Cristiano Ronaldo's Real Madrid, missed the jackpot with a lukewarm trading update that failed to inspire investors.

Market Report: Success in retail not always a good thing

Tue, 21 May 2013 01:28:27 +0100

Next and WH Smith were victims of their own success as scribblers at Nomura downgraded the pair.

Investment View: Reputations are at stake, but Shell is a better bet than BP

Tue, 21 May 2013 01:24:21 +0100

Legal issues are some of the great X factors when assessing a company’s investment potential. You can estimate earnings, costs, likely dividend, economic prospects of the markets in which businesses operate, quality of product and of management.

Market Report: ENRC founders get bid breathing space

Sat, 18 May 2013 00:19:03 +0100

The founders of troubled Kazakh miner ENRC have been given more time to come up with a better bid, but the City isn’t convinced a better offer will be made.

Market Report: Profit-taking puts brakes on Footsie

Thu, 16 May 2013 23:19:46 +0100

Hopes that the Footsie could match the record 11 days of gains last set in July 2009 were lost when weak US jobs data and profit-taking sent the benchmark index into negative territory. The blue-chip index has been flirting with the 6,700 barrier during trading over the past three days, but the chance to push on through this was dashed during the afternoon session. It lost 5.75 points to 6,687.8 after US jobs, manufacturing and housing data disappointed. Despite the dip it is still at levels last seen in November 2007.

Market Report: Oil giants expected to ride out 'fix' storm

Thu, 16 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100

While Westminster worried about the scale of an oil price-fixing scandal, the City took a more sanguine view. Tuesday's raid of the oil giants' offices by the European Commission – the start of an investigation into allegations of fixing that could have affected millions of motorists – fuelled fears that the oil majors are facing their very own version of the banks' Libor disgrace.

Market Report: Babcock backed as it 'sails ahead of pack'

Wed, 15 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Punters were tallying up the lucrative order book at Babcock International as they piled in to the engineering group yesterday. The British engineering outsourcer, which started life in 1891 when a US boiler maker opened its first UK office, reported results ahead of expectations, with profits up 30 per cent.

Market Report: StanChart off-key as activist goes short

Tue, 14 May 2013 01:58:44 +0100

Investors in Standard Chartered were singing the blues yesterday. The Asia-focused banking group's share price fell to the bottom of the pile after punters caught wind that the activist investor Muddy Waters was shorting the stock. Carson Block, founder of Muddy Waters, a US short-seller, said at a hedge fund conference in Las Vegas that he had bought five-year credit default swaps on Standard Chartered. He is betting against the group because of its "deteriorating" loan quality.

Investment View: One slightly sick trading statement does not make StanChart a 'sell'

Tue, 14 May 2013 01:58:43 +0100

Should you be standing with Standard Chartered after last week's less than stellar trading update? The market tells its own story. The shares have been on the skids since it was issued. In fact they've been trending down for a while.

Market Report: Miner Amplats digs itself into a hole

Sat, 11 May 2013 02:08:32 +0100

News that the world’s top platinum producer has bowed to union pressure and slashed the number of job cuts it planned has left investors worried about the future of the industry.

Investment Column: Food for thought if you want a stake in grocers

Fri, 10 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100

If you want to buy shares in supermarkets as well as your food, entertainment, electricals, toys, even banking and insurance, you have a problem. Your investment is going to have to run very fast just to stay still.

Market Report: Sirius takes a big crash on its potash

Fri, 10 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100

A visit by inspectors from North York Moors national park caused jitters in the City yesterday for potash miner Sirius Minerals.

Market Report: Revived Halfords is pedalling in front

Thu, 09 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Shares in the bike retailer Halfords were pumped up to a two-year high yesterday on hopes in the City it is now on the right track. The analyst Georgina Johanan at JPMorgan said she thinks the bike and car accessories specialist is putting its "wheels back in motion" with better customer service, more products and a better online business.

Market Report: Trio of newcomers steal the limelight

Tue, 07 May 2013 23:01:25 +0100

The market's newest arrivals continued to impress, with Crest Nicholson, esure and Countrywide all making gains.

Market Report: ENRC hits the top on stakebuilding

Fri, 03 May 2013 23:47:24 +0100

All eyes were on ENRC yesterday as the City speculated on the motive behind Russian billionaire Suleyman Kerimov’s stakebuilding in the troubled Kazakh miner. ENRC, which is the subject of a Serious Fraud Office investigation into allegations of fraud, bribery and corruption, has seen its shares fall more than 17 per cent since the claims emerged.

Investment Column: Leave something for the next man and book a gain

Fri, 03 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Dunelm

Market Report: Traders hunger for more from Glencore

Fri, 03 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100

There is no rest for Ivan Glasenberg. His commodity trading giant Glencore International has just completed the long-awaited mega deal – buying the miner Xstrata – but the City is hungry for more. The $30bn (£19bn) takeover was completed yesterday, and the new Glencore shares will begin trading today – Xstrata shareholders get 3.05 shares in Glencore. But this deal is old news for traders and brokers … they want to know what comes next.

Market Report: Experts pour cold water on bid talk

Thu, 02 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Traders have spent this year trying to flush out takeover deals for water groups including Pennon and United Utilities. But yesterday experts at HSBC washed out any hope of M&A, blaming regulatory uncertainty as the cause.

Market Report: Scandal-hit ENRC falls deeper into hole

Wed, 01 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100

If it were possible for scandal-hit Kazakh mining outfit ENRC to lose more credibility – yesterday it did as another rating agency downgraded the group's credit rating further into junk territory.The company is being investigated on corruption allegations by the Serious Fraud Office across its Kazakh and African operations.

Market Report: The numbers add up for Aberdeen Asset Management

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 01:08:17 +0100

The City is full of analysts and number crunchers paid vast sums to predict how companies will perform. But yesterday the entire market was caught out on just how much a fund manager achieved. Aberdeen Asset Management took the City by surprise with a 37 per cent increase in profits and 36 per cent rise in dividend and its shares hit the top of the table, up by more than 8 per cent – or 33.4p – to 450.5p.

Market Report: Shale gas explorer buoyed by well news

Sat, 27 Apr 2013 00:26:22 +0100

Hold on to your hats: two wells are planned near Blackpool in the quest for shale gas. While those close to the site in the Bowland basin in Lancashire might be a little nervous on hearing the news, punters piled into the AIM explorer that is going to start digging.

Investment View: Three gambles - but were they winning bets?

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Before last year's Cheltenham Festival this column offered up three gambles from the stock market; smaller companies I felt would be winners for investors. In the darker reaches of the London Stock Exchange, I uncovered bright lights, cannabis treatments and (appropriately enough) bets on mobiles.

Market Report: Hambro's miner shines in gold rally

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Peter Hambro's gold miner Petropavlovsk was glistening close to the top of the mid-tier index yesterday when the previously plummeting gold price rallied, reaching its highest in more than a week. The IMF said central banks are buying gold again and its price responded after tumbling the sharpest for 30 years last week.

Market Report: May Gurney cleans up in bidding battle

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Never have binmen been so in demand in the City. A £221m knockout offer in the bidding battle for the maintenance, waste and recycling supplier May Gurney Integrated Services saw punters pile in.

Market Report: Weak Chinese data dents mining stocks

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 23:35:34 +0100

Smartphone microchips and cheap clothes won the battle against weak manufacturing data as the FTSE 100 had its best day in more than three and half months. Investors flooded in to equities across Europe and even weaker-than-expected Chinese manufacturing figures and poor German data could not stop the charge.

Market Report: Gulf Keystone cops it as boss sells down

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 00:50:48 +0100

Todd Kozel led by example yesterday. News that the boss of Gulf Keystone Petroleum had transferred the bulk of his shares in the oil explorer was swiftly followed by punters selling theirs.

Investment View: Hargreaves still a star, but expect a pause for breath

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 00:34:05 +0100

Our view: hold

Market Report: M&C Saatchi shares hit a record high

Sat, 20 Apr 2013 04:02:54 +0100

M&C Saatchi chief executive David Kershaw is a big golfer and anyone who is playing 18 holes with him in the near future could be forgiven for feeling a twinge of envy. Shares in the advertising-agency group hit a record high yesterday, soaring 20.5p to 260p, as the annual report had a bullish forecast which boosted sentiment – not to mention the pay packets of the directors.

Investment View: Fan of big drinks firms? More power to your elbow...

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 23:21:55 +0100

Raise your glass if you've been an investor in one of the big drinks companies. Diageo and SABMiller have been on a seemingly relentless upward trajectory for months. And months and months. The dips – and there haven't been many – have been relative blips when it comes to the overall trend, which has seen both companies' stock soaring.

Market Report: Talk of SFO inquiry hits Kazakh miner

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 23:21:55 +0100

Kazakh mining giant Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation is no stranger to controversy following a series of corporate governance issues, but news that the Serious Fraud Office could be considering a formal criminal inquiry left the miner buried at the bottom of the benchmark index.

Market Report: Oils slide as Tullow team draws a blank

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0100

A dry well off the coast of French Guiana left shares in some of the FTSE 100's biggest oil groups looking seriously parched. Tullow Oil sank to the bottom of the blue-chip index, down 9 per cent, while Tullow's partners in the well development – Royal Dutch Shell, France's Total and AIM-listed Northern Petroleum and Wessex Exploration – were all knocked by the news.

Market Report: Talk proves costly for Arm Holdings

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 23:56:31 +0100

The City decreed that the smartphone microchip maker Arm Holdings was looking a bit pricey and punters quickly followed by hanging up on the Cambridge-based tech group – knocking more than 3 per cent off its price in the process.

Market Report: Miners subside after gold price plunge

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 22:47:57 +0100

Investors who have been relying on the notion that if the price of gold is down, the stock market will be up, were sorely disappointed yesterday. The old adage that investing in shares is a bet on future prosperity while buying gold is a bet on future disaster and that the two are inversely correlated – travelling in opposite directions – is now looking decidedly rusty.

Investment View: Steer clear of the Pru, but if you do invest, be careful

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 22:46:18 +0100

Standard Life and Aviva got the Investment View treatment last week. Today I’m going to focus on a company some would consider to be the life-insurance sector’s star: Prudential.

Market Report: Resolution gets a result for Cowdery

Sat, 13 Apr 2013 02:16:38 +0100

Clive Cowdery's Resolution was in demand yesterday following upgrades from brokers at Barclays Capital and JP Morgan. Analysts at BarCap seemed enthused by a meeting with the insurer's management, who are crunching together the Friends Provident, Axa Life and Bupa businesses that Mr Cowdery acquired after launching the company in 2006.

Investment View: Stick with steady Standard but vote against bosses' pay

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 23:31:52 +0100

It's share-award time at Standard Life, at least for finance director Jackie Hunt. The company said in an announcement to the stock exchange that after being handed 95,000 of them, she sold nearly 45,000 at 340p to cover tax liabilities and kept the rest.

Market Report: Samsung deal takes the heat off Wolfson

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 23:31:52 +0100

Samsung has put paid to market fears about future growth at Edinburgh-based Wolfson Microelectronics by signing a new partnership deal. The worry for punters had been that Wolfson could have been losing out to other Samsung suppliers which were getting close to the Korean mobile phone giant, whose Galaxy S3 was the most popular smartphone brand of 2012.

Market Report: Housebuilders have more room to grow

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 22:58:50 +0100

Pile into property was the call from City scribblers today. But not bricks and mortar. HSBC's analysts think the market is underestimating shares in the builders of houses. This may come as surprising to some – the UK housebuilder sector has already risen by an average of 24 per cent so far this year, outperforming the mid-cap index by 13 per cent. But HSBC's property team think the "Government's 'game-changing' housing market stimulus" announced at last month's Budget means the housebuilders are set to grow even further.

Market Report: Profit warning jolts iPhone parts maker

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 23:20:30 +0100

Supplying parts for iPhones, iPads and other super-desirable techie products isn't always a licence to print money, it appears. The supplier AZ Electronics' profit warning sent shockwaves across the market and the shares were jolted to the bottom of the mid-tier index.

Investment View: Why to have and to hold is best bet for WPP's shares

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0100

WPP knows a thing or two about advertising and the group was at it yesterday, seeking to catch the eyes of investors. The company was trumpeting the news that its digital arm had participated in a third round of financing for Leading Smart Holdings, which has a controlling stake in the parent company of Maiozhen Systems. The latter is (we are told) a leading digital advertising measurement company. With expertise in managing big data in China. Phew.

Small Talk: Heard of RTI? It might do you a lot of good…

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 01:06:41 +0100

All good things come to those who wait: while the introduction of real-time information (RTI) seems inevitably destined to prompt one of those IT meltdowns for which our public sector is so renowned, there are plenty of reasons why businesses should welcome the overhaul.