Markets
London - UK stocks closed lower on Wednesday as weakness in oil stocks offset gains in miners. The FTSE100 closed 18.56 points lower at 4152.69, after swinging from a high of 4198.74 to a low of 4050.67. Oil stocks were the top losers with BP, Royal Dutch, Tullow Oil and Cairn Energy all losing between 0.8 and 5.8 percent. Miners offered some support, with the FTSE350 mining index gaining 5.4 percent. Kazakhmys, Antofagasta, Fresnillo, BHP Billiton and Vedanta Resources rising between 5.7 and 9.9 percent. Rio Tinto underperformed the sector, up 1.1 percent after BHP announced its decision on Tuesday to walk away from its hostile takeover bid for Rio.

Posted: November 27th, 2008 under Asset Management.
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Markets
London - The FTSE 100 is currently 26.40 points lower at 4,144.85. Standard Chartered continues to fall, down 4.6%, after announcing yesterday it plans to raise £1.8 from a rights issue. United Utilities loses 2.6% after its half yearly report. Tesco slips 2.1% after Bernstein analysts cut its price target. On the upside, Johnson Matthey gains 10% after posting a 20% rise in first half profits. Miners fill many of the top spots, rebounding from yesterdays slump. Vedanta jumps 8.4% and Antofagasta climbs 8%.

Posted: November 26th, 2008 under Asset Management.
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The Government has this morning published its response to Dame Carol Black’s review of the health of Britain’s working-age population.  Although the report runs to 107 pages, one page has grabbed all the headlines - the proposal to replace the current GP’s sick note with a ‘fit note’.
Many employers are frustrated at the minimal information [...]

Posted: November 25th, 2008 under Employment/HR.
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Markets
London - The FTSE 100 is currently 73.82 points lower at 4,079.14. Rio Tinto leads the fallers after BHP Billiton withdrew its bid for the company. Rio is almost 37% lower, while BHP Billiton gains nearly 7%. Financial are higher following Citigroup, HBOS gains 3.4%, Lloyds is up 3.3% and Barclays adds 3.2%. Shares in Wolseley, the British plumbing and heating materials distributor, fall 5.4 percent as RBS slashes its rating to “sell” from “hold”. Severn Trent climbs 1.8% after reporting a 4.6% rise in first half underlying profits and said it was in a strong financial position.

Posted: November 25th, 2008 under Asset Management.
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Markets
London - The FTSE 100 is 69.58 points higher at 3,850.54 this morning. Banking stocks give the market a lift on news that Citigroup is set to receive guarantees for $306 billion of distressed mortgage assets and a $20bn capital injection. Barclays gains 9.2%, RBS adds 5.3% and Lloyds TSB rises 5%. The insurance sector is higher as well, with Old Mutual up 11.8%, Aviva 5.7% higher and Legal & General 4.9% better off. Retailer’s are mixed ahead of the pre-Budget report, where it is widely expected that the government will knock 2.5% off the rate of VAT. Next cheers 3%, while Marks & Spencer is unchanged.

Posted: November 24th, 2008 under Asset Management.
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