Latest News
US close: Stocks rise as Yellen argues benefits of tight labour market
Wall Street finished slightly higher on Friday as Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen said she sees some benefit to allowing inflation to run above the central bank’s 2% target.
Sector movers: Tesco leads cyclicals higher, pharma drags
Cyclicals took over from defensives, with Tesco spearheading gains among food and drug retailers while pharma stocks acted as the main drag.
Janet Yellen sets stage for policy debate
Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen delivered a speech at the end of the week which some market observers characterised as implicitly more 'dovish' than her speech following the US central bank's 21 September policy meeting.
Salesforce.com will not table bid for Twitter, report says
Salesforce. com will not table a bid for social media giant Twitter. com, the Financial Times reported, sending shares in the latter crashing.
Europe close: Gains in banks lifts indices
European stocks rose on Friday, supported by encouraging Chinese inflation figures which helped to ease concerns over the world’s third-largest economy and on the back of better than expected results from US banking heavyweights Citigroup and JP Morgan Chase .
US-Cuba trade and travel restrictions further relaxed
The United States government announced on Friday that it would be introducing new measures to relax trade and travel restrictions between it and Cuba.
Goldman Sachs wins $1.2bn legal suit against Libyan investment fund
US investment bank Goldman Sachs has triumphed in a legal dispute with Libya's sovereign wealth fund after a High Court judge in London found that the company did not exert undue influence in a group of transactions though which the fund lost more than $1bn.
London close: Stocks rally as China inflation improves, Tesco/Unilever resolve issues
London stocks closed in the green on Friday following better-than-expected Chinese inflation data and after Tesco resolved its pricing dispute with Unilever.
Small cap round up
AIM-listed live events agency Aeorema Communications’s full-year revenue fell slightly as a result of a “challenging market”, in part caused by Brexit uncertainty while it gained the MailOnline website as a client. For the year ended 30 June, revenues fell slightly by 7% to about £4. 58m, compared to last year, which resulted in an 11% fall in pre-tax profit to £340,165.
Directors dealings: Nanoco chairman adds to stake
Nanoco's non-executive chairman picked up £29,999. 92-worth of shares in the company for his wife on 14 October, the company said in a statement.
Ambrian to shut down metals trading business
AIM-listed commodities trading and logistics company Ambrian is to close its metals trading business due to the “prevailing uncertain business environment” in the sector.
Ergomed to benefit from Zoptrex Australasia deal
Specialised pharmaceutical services company Ergomed announced on Friday that its co-development partner, Aeterna Zentaris, has signed an additional licensing agreement for Zoptrex.
Obama accuses Republicans of "feeding" Trump base for years
US president Barack Obama has accused Republican lawmakers of weak leadership, and suggested they now cannot control the state of their party as Donald Trump's campaign to become the next occupant of the White House seems to be imploding.
Week ahead: UK data in focus
From Tuesday onwards, traders will be watching out for the release of a raft of top-tier indicators related to the British economy, including data on consumer prices, the labour market, retail sales and public finances starting.
Broker tips: Hansteen, Mondi, Weir
JP Morgan Cazenove has initiated coverage of property investor Hansteen with a ‘neutral’ rating and target price of 125p.
FTSE 250 movers: Man Group surges on acquisition, FUM; Aggreko drops on downgrade
London’s FTSE 250 index was up 0. 6% to 17,988. 78 in afternoon trade.
Asda faces possible £100m back-pay bill for female workers
Asda’s workers have made progress towards its pay fight against the firm, which could lead to the largest private sector claim for equal pay in the UK at £100m.
Deutsche Bank considering thousands more layoffs
Faced with the threat of multi-billion dollar fines, Deutsche Bank has set out contingency plans to more than double the headcount reductions which it carried out last year, Reuters reported.
US open: Stocks gain on better-than-expected bank earnings
US stocks gained on Friday as investors cheered better-than-expected results from banking heavyweights JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and Wells Fargo, with solid US retail sales figures and encouraging Chinese data also lending support.