Commodities and banks drag FTSE 100 lower – London Report February 10, 2015 BRITAIN’S top equity index drifted lower yesterday, hit by a drop in banks and commodity stocks, although improved sales for battered supermarkets lent support to the market. Fresh signs of economic weakness in China, the world’s biggest consumer of metals, hit mining companies, with the FTSE 350 Mining Index down 2.8 per cent. It closed [...]
The nominations roll in as we launch our awards June 29, 2014 It’s that time of year again – City A.M. is today launching its fifth annual awards, one of the most hotly anticipated occasions in the City calendar. The event, which celebrates those who have helped put the City of London at the centre of the world’s financial markets, will take place on 13 November at [...]
Pictures: BT chief Gavin Patterson abseils down BT Tower March 10, 2014 When Gavin Patterson took on the role of chief executive of BT back in June 2013, we’d wager he didn’t expect his tenure at the top to involve abseiling down BT’s famous totem, the BT Tower. But sure enough, this morning, Gavin Patterson stepped into a harness, plonked on a hard hat and took [...]
Boom time for LSE after equity raising doubles March 28, 2014 THE LONDON Stock Exchange, the 300 year old trading venue, yesterday said new cash raised on the equity market almost doubled last year to £28bn. The group, which in a strange quirk is listed on its own exchange, said 162 new issues in the 11 months between April 2013 and February 2014 raised £28.3bn – [...]
FTSE up on hope that Bank will keep rates low – London Report February 17, 2015 Britain’s top share index yesterday climbed to a five-month high on expectations that the Bank of England would keep interest rates down, after data showed inflation sank to a record low in January. The annual inflation rate fell to 0.3 per cent last month from 0.5 per cent in December, official data showed, largely reflecting [...]
Inflation report to give clues on rate hike date – London Report February 8, 2015 THE BANK of England’s quarterly inflation report is this week expected to offer an insight into whether historically-low interest rates will be increased this year or next. Howard Archer, of IHS Global Insight, said: “The Bank of England will obviously have to cut its near-term inflation forecasts sharply given that consumer price inflation fell sharply [...]
Host Brandreth outshines the gong winners March 28, 2014 LONDON’S share price heroes were out in force last night at the KPMG UK Stock Market Awards but there wasn’t a winner in the room that could make as much of an impression as host Gyles Brandreth did as he blustered his way through the gong list. Brandreth mistook absent EasyJet boss Carolyn McCall (travel [...]
RBS and NatWest downgrade 84,000 private bank accounts April 3, 2014 TENS of thousands of RBS and NatWest’s richest customers are being downgraded to normal accounts because they do not meet tough new criteria for the private bank, City A.M. has learned. The bank has written to 120,000 customers to tell them about the changes. Under the new rules customers will need an individual income of [...]
FTSE rebounds as oil price rise boosts energy companies – London Report December 2, 2014 BRITAIN’S main equity index rebounded from a two-week low yesterday, led by energy shares, as oil prices rose from five-year lows. Energy stocks helped the FTSE 100 index to close 1.3 per cent higher at 6,742.10 points. It had fallen one per cent in the previous session to a two-week low, its steepest one-day drop [...]
Inside Track: Cenkos is driving an AA float, but the handbrake is still on March 26, 2014 YOU KNOW things are getting toppy when Cenkos is hawking accelerated IPOs around the City,” a fund manager told me over lunch last week. While he said it half in jest, he had a point. The investment bank whose rainmakers pioneered the technique during their time at Collins Stewart are back in their old routine. [...]