Markets
London - The FTSE 100 is currently 49.66 points lower at 4,106.33. Travel related shares lead the fall following the outbreak of swine flu in Mexico, which has spread to the US. British Airways plunges 7.4%, Carnival loses 6.7% while Thomas Cook falls 5%. Aviva tops the risers’ board, up 3.2%, after saying its capital surplus increased to £2.5 billion at the end of the first quarter from £2 billion three months earlier. AstraZeneca gains 2% after UBS upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral.

Posted: April 27th, 2009 under Asset Management.
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Markets
London - The FTSE 100 is currently 46.82 points higher at 4,065.05. Miners lead the market higher after Cazenove upped the sector to Overweight from Neutral. Xstrata climbs 5.2%, Kazakhmys gains 4.9% and Fresnillo adds 3.7%. Amlin rises 2.8% after Goldman Sachs upgraded the stock to Neutral from Sell. Cable & Wireless also benefits from an upgrade courtesy of JPMorgan to Overweight, shares in the stock are 2.8% higher. Banks are higher following results from regional banks in the US. Barclays jumps almost 5% while Lloyds Banking Group advances 3.4%. Oil producers gain following a rise in the price of crude. Royal Dutch Shell is 3% higher while Tullow Oil gains 2.6%.

Posted: April 24th, 2009 under Asset Management.
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Markets
London - The FTSE 100 is currently 23.52 points lower at 4,007.14. Schroders tops the fallers’ board, down 3%, after reporting a slump in first quarter profit as investors continue to pull money out of funds. Rolls-Royce loses 2.7% after Cazenove advised clients to sell the stock. Miners retreat after copper prices fell with Antofagasta down 1.7%. On the upside, retailers lead the way following results from FTSE 250 stock Debenhams and no change to the 15% VAT rate in the budget. Next jumps 6.8%, Marks & Spencer adds 6.1% and Home Retail gains 4.6%.

Posted: April 23rd, 2009 under Asset Management.
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Markets
London - The FTSE 100 is currently 13.74 points lower at 3,973.72 this morning after a whole batch of stocks began trading without the right to the next dividend, including Centrica (-4.7%), Reed Elsevier (-4.6%), Cadbury (-3.3%), Rolls-Royce (2.3%) BAE Systems (-1.4%) and Petrofac (-1%). Financial stocks lead the risers’ board, following gains in the US. Barclays jumps 6.2%, Lloyd’s gains 4.7% and RBS rises 4.6%. Retailers improve after Citigroup upgraded and raised price targets on a number of stocks in the sector. Kingfisher climbs 3.7% and Next is 3.4% higher.

Posted: April 22nd, 2009 under Asset Management.
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Markets
London - The FTSE 100 is currently 12.05 points higher at 4,002.91. Associated British Foods tops the risers’ board, climbing 5.7%, after posting better than expected results. Tesco follows after posting solid FY results, the retailer is currently 4.8% higher. Xstrata falls 1% after copper and zinc prices tumbled in Shanghai. Banks suffer following on from Bank of Americas results. RBS loses 3.7%, Lloyds is off 2.2% and Barclays falls 1.7%. Prudential drops 3.8% after Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock to Underweight from Equalweight.

Posted: April 21st, 2009 under Asset Management.
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