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London midday: Oil majors, miners knocked down as commodity prices drop
Ahead of Thursday's ECB action, London's shares were trading near their lowest levels of the session around noon as a drop in oil and metals futures piled on the pressure.
Cineworld gains from Empire acquisitions, hikes dividend
Cineworld’s revenue grew in 2016 as it made several acquisitions of Empire cinemas, including the iconic Empire Leicester Square, and the cinema operator hiked its dividend 8. 6%.
Europe midday: Stocks retreat ahead of ECB policy decision, euro gains
Ahead of the European Central Bank’s policy statement, European stocks retreated on Thursday with oil prices down and the euro gained.
W Resources shares lose shine as placing details unveiled
Shares in W Resources fell more than 6% after it detailed a £750,000 placing to progress development of its copper and gold assets, and purchase of the La Parilla crusher and jig/mill.
UK's Hammond defends NICs rise amid claims of manifesto pledge break
Chancellor Philip Hammond was forced to defend his planned rises in National Insurance contributions for the self employed less than 24 hours after delivering them in his Spring Budget.
Crude oil prices fall below $50 after US stockpiles surprise
Oil prices in the US fell below $50 for the first time since December as aggressive selling continued on Thursday following data that showed crude stockpiles climbing for a ninth consecutive month to their highest since 1982.
Asia report: Most markets lower on mixed bag of China data
Most markets in Asia finished in the red on Thursday, with investors turning their eyes to China as its mixed bag of inflation data showed a disparity between producer and consumer prices.
EPL clubs could lose millions to HMRC tax avoidance crackdown
English football clubs and their players could be hit with multi-million pound settlement charges relating to tax-avoidance schemes, if HMRC wins a Supreme Court case against Scottish club Rangers next week.
Thursday broker round-up
Admiral: JPMorgan upgrades to Overweight with a target price of 2100p.
Vipera to design mobile banking app for UAE bank
AIM-listed financial service provider Vipera is to design and implement a mobile banking and bill payment app for the Arab Bank for Investment & Foreign Trade (Al Masraf).
Nautilus Marine shares dive on full year results
Shares in AIM-quoted Nautilus Marine Services dived more than a fifth as investors reacted to its full-year results, which showed an improvement in pre-tax losses and a slide in revenue.
Cohort wins £10m Ministry of Defence contract
Technology firm Cohort has won a four-year, £9. 9m contact from the Ministry of Defence to supply and support hearing protection systems and communication ancillaries for land, maritime and air applications.
Aviva takes £380m hit on Ogden rate change; to return cash as FY profits rise
Insurer Aviva said it was making a £380m charge to account for the change in the Ogden rate – the discount on personal injury claim payouts – as it revealed full year operating profits up 12% to £3bn and said it would return cash to shareholders.
Co-op Bank looks at £750m raising if sale plan fails
Co-operative Bank said it would look to raise up to £750m of extra core capital if its sale plan failed as it reported full year pre-tax losses of £477m.
Countrywide proposes placing to accelerate digital rollout as FY profit falls
Countrywide's shares are down almost 5% after it proposed a cash-box placing of 21. 6m shares to accelerate its digital rollout, unlock further cost savings and strengthen its balance sheet, against a backcloth of Brexit uncertainty in the property market.
Amerisur Resources' shares fall after production update
Shares in Amerisur Resources are down more than 2% as it said total production during February was 119,334 barrels of oil, with average daily production at 4262 barrels per day (BOPD).
Adjusted earnings surge at Communisis
Integrated marketing services provider Communisis reported its preliminary results for the 2016 calendar year on Thursday, with adjusted earnings per share up 17% to 6. 07p.
JPMorgan upgrades Admiral on potential for growth and capital returns
JP Morgan Cazenove has upgraded Admiral to an 'overweight' recommendation to reflect the non-life insurer's strong growth potential recent share price weakness.
Europe open: Akzo Nobel rockets, airlines in EU crosshairs
European equities were lower at the start of trading as investors steered a wide berth ahead of the European Central Bank´s policy meeting.
Macron overtakes Le Pen in French election poll to lead for first time
Centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron has emerged in pole position for the first round of voting in France's presidential election, edging ahead of National Front leader Marine Le Pen for the first time.