News

Blue Index News and Press Releases. Please visit this page often for regular updates regarding Blue Index as an organisation.

Strong start on Footsie after big US rally

The remarkable rally on Wall Street yesterday led to an immediate mark up on London shares, although there was an element of profit taking mid-morning. The early blue chip winner was Emap, with the shares up 5% after the group said trading since its last update had been encouraging. It added that potential buyers of all or parts of the group would be giving information on a confidential basis in the next few weeks.

More volatility but an overall pleasing UK performance

24th August – Quieter morning on the Footsie ahead of the bank holiday There were few movements of note this morning in the UK market as traders wound down positions after a good week and ahead of the bank holiday break. Yesterday’s comments by the CEO of Countrywide Financial was a reminder of the underlying problems facing credit markets, with central banks already having to inject significant sums into the market.

Fightback in London is led by Whitbread and Financials

Shares in London were quite resilient after the expected big markdown which followed the poor performance in the US and Far East, and by mid-morning the FTSE 100 index was down just 23 points. Whitbread was ahead of the field with a 3.3% rise as it reported a strong quarter in the 14 weeks to 16th August. Total sales rose by 11.3% and like-for-like sales were an impressive 6.6% ahead, although the group did delay its cash return plans because of the uncertainty in the debt markets.

Share in London drift down on sub-prime concerns

After a quiet start, the FTSE 100 index drifted down early on with selected falls within the financials on weekend reports of increased sub-prime exposure. On the upside, Rio Tinto helped the mining sector after it received US anti-trust clearance for the proposed acquisition of Alcan by its subsidiary.