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LONDON, Jan 10 (Reuters) – Mining (LSE: MIR.L – news) companies’ influence on Britain’s FTSE is fading after a tough year for the sector, although it still has a greater bearing on the UK blue chip index than on any other in Europe. UK-listed miners have operations from Kazakhstan to Chile and meet demand for Read More

LONDON (ShareCast) – Marks & Spencer (Other OTC: MAKSF – news) shares were putting in a strong performance this afternoon, recovering somewhat after yesterday’s third quarter miss. The stock was given a boost by Investec (LSE: INVP.L – news) , which upgraded its rating from ‘hold’ to ‘buy’, saying that the business should now become Read More

* FTSE 100 down 0.5 pct * Lags peripheral shares as pound strengthens vs euro * M&S boosted by food sales growth, bucks falls for peers * William Hill (Other OTC: WIMHF – news) hit by threat of government regulation By Francesco Canepa LONDON, Jan 9 (Reuters) – Britain’s FTSE 100 fell on Thursday and Read More

LONDON (ShareCast) – Electronics components maker Laird (LSE: LRD.L – news) led the FTSE 250’s rise on Thursday as it expressed confidence it will hit full-year expectations after enjoying a ‘significantly stronger’ second half. The cost of restructuring to keep on top of market innovations offset the higher demand from smartphone and consumer markets. Shares Read More

By This Is Money Reporters PUBLISHED: 03:08 EST, 9 January 2014 | UPDATED: 07:43 EST, 9 January 2014 12.40: Strength in the domestic banking sector helped underpin gains by the FTSE around mid-session as the Bank of England once again left UK interest rates unchanged at record lows of 0.5 per cent, where they have Read More

By Francesco Canepa LONDON (Reuters) – Marks & Spencer helped Britain’s FTSE 100 trade with small gains on Thursday as a positive performance at its foods business lifted the stock, bucking a string of gloomy Christmas updates in the retail sector. Shares in M&S rose 2.5 percent after the upmarket retailer reported organic growth in Read More

LONDON (ShareCast) – RSA Insurance (LSE: RSA.L – news) climbed strongly ahead of receiving the results of an independent investigation after it reiterated its confidence that the recent financial irregularities are isolated to its Irish business. The results are due to be announced tomorrow. Banking stocks were extending yesterday’s gains after data showed that funding Read More

By Alistair Smout LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s top share index fell on Wednesday, slipping back into negative territory for the year, after concerns about a smoking ban in China knocked back tobacco companies and following a cautious outlook from Sainsbury. The FTSE 100 closed down 33.67 points, or 0.5 percent, at 6,716.16 by 1551 British Read More

LONDON (ShareCast) – 1630: Close The FTSE 100 closed 25 points higher today, driven higher by financials, in particular Lloyds. IAG climbed after posting a 10.6 per cent leap in its December traffic. In today’s economic news, the BCC (Shenzhen: 002455.SZ – news) predicted three per cent growth in the economy this year, while Goldman Read More

By This Is Money Reporters PUBLISHED: 03:26 EST, 8 January 2014 | UPDATED: 04:40 EST, 8 January 2014 9.30: The FTSE 100 slid 16.2 points to 6,739.3 as traders digested the latest round of Christmas updates from the retail sector. Fallers included Sainsbury’s as a better-than-expected 0.2 per cent rise in underlying sales for the Read More