REMINDER: Our user survey closes on Friday, please submit your responses here

Less Ads, More Data, More Tools Register for FREE

Pin to quick picksGOG.L Share News (GOG)

  • There is currently no data for GOG

Watchlists are a member only feature

Login to your account

Alerts are a premium feature

Login to your account

London midday: Gains limited as investors await ECB meeting, Draghi

Thu, 04th Sep 2014 12:09

- Draghi in focus as ECB decides on policy- BoE holds rates, global data ahead- Standard Life surges after Canadian deal- EasyJet, Supergroup and Go-Ahead risetechMARK 2,868.07 +0.03%FTSE 100 6,888.35 +0.21%FTSE 250 15,960.26 -0.20%UK market were rangebound on Thursday morning, fluctuating near a record high, as investors sat on their hands ahead of a policy decision by the European Central Bank (ECB).The FTSE 100 was trading 0.2% higher at 6,888 by midday, helped by a surge in the share price of Standard Life and decent gains by Easyjet. The index climbed to 6,873.58 by the close on Wednesday, after hitting an intraday high of 6,898.62 during the session - its highest intraday level since the record 6,950.60 set in late December 1999.At noon, the Bank of England (BoE) voted to keep the Bank Rate at 0.5% and its asset purchase programme at £375bn. However, speculation continues to rise over when policymakers will decided to hike rates after two of the nine-member committee voted for an increase last month.Nevertheless, with the BoE decision widely expected by the market, the ECB is likely to steal the show amid recent calls for President Mario Draghi to inject stimulus to aid a struggling Eurozone recovery.Draghi hinted at the Jackson Hole conference last month that inflation expectations were falling and that the ECB would use "all available instruments needed to ensure price stability". However, the ECB President has a "history of disappointing", according to dealer Jonathan Sudaria from Capital Spreads."Unfortunately, he has put undue pressure on himself and markets will want to see something concrete at today's ECB press conference. The risk is that just repeating what he said at Jackson Hole may not be enough for traders," Sudaria said.Labour-market figures from the States will also be in focus, including the ADP employment survey and jobless claims data, as markets await the all-important August US non-farm payrolls report due out on Friday. The US trade balance and ISM non-manufacturing index will also be released on Thursday afternoon.Standard Life agrees £2.2bn sale of Canadian unitStandard Life surged 9% after saying that it has agreed to sell its Canadian operations for C$4bn (£2.2bn) to Manulife Financial and would return £1.75bn of this to shareholders. The two companies also made a collaboration agreement in principle for Manulife to distribute Standard Life Investments' products via the Canadian company's network in Canada, the US and Asia.Budget airline Easyjet was higher after seeing annual traffic pick up slightly in August, with passenger numbers up 8.4% on the year before, compared with the 7.7% increase registered in July.Centrica inched lower after saying that the negative impact on earnings from a reduction in output at EDF Energy's nuclear power stations is now expected to be at least twice the amount originally estimated. On the FTSE 250, fashion retailer Supergroup jumped after the 3.7% decline in first-quarter like-for-like sales was not as bad as analysts had feared. The company also reassured the market by highlighting improving trends over the first few weeks of the second quarter.A 44.5% leap in profit to £91.2m helped to drive shares in Go-Ahead Group higher as the transport company cheered with its full-year results. Balfour Beatty had erased earlier gains by midday after agreeing to sell its US business Parsons Brinckerhoff to Canadian industrial group WSP Global for $1.35bn cash (£0.8bn). The infrastructure group said it would hand £200m back to shareholders, though analysts at Westhouse Securities pointed out that the sale price may have disappointed some in the market after recent media speculation.FTSE 100 - RisersStandard Life (SL.) 418.90p +8.50%Dixons Carphone (DC.) 372.60p +2.36%Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 2,692.00p +2.32%Admiral Group (ADM) 1,293.00p +2.29%Carnival (CCL) 2,329.00p +1.70%easyJet (EZJ) 1,383.00p +1.39%Mondi (MNDI) 1,053.00p +1.35%Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,330.00p +0.91%Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 2,469.00p +0.84%SSE (SSE) 1,500.00p +0.81%FTSE 100 - FallersHargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,049.00p -2.24%Ashtead Group (AHT) 1,005.00p -1.66%Tesco (TSCO) 229.55p -1.31%Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 173.10p -1.25%Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 293.10p -1.25%Capita (CPI) 1,217.00p -1.22%CRH (CRH) 1,429.00p -1.18%Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 1,116.00p -1.15%Meggitt (MGGT) 477.30p -0.98%3i Group (III) 388.80p -0.97%FTSE 250 - RisersSupergroup (SGP) 1,143.00p +9.27%Go-Ahead Group (GOG) 2,359.00p +3.78%TalkTalk Telecom Group (TALK) 311.90p +3.62%Betfair Group (BET) 1,130.00p +3.20%DCC (DCC) 3,665.00p +2.95%Serco Group (SRP) 320.60p +2.49%Spire Healthcare Group (SPI) 271.25p +2.36%Nostrum Oil & Gas (NOG) 779.50p +2.03%Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 1,135.00p +1.70%Provident Financial (PFG) 2,161.00p +1.31%FTSE 250 - FallersHochschild Mining (HOC) 166.50p -3.76%AO World (AO.) 217.30p -3.42%Just Eat (JE.) 290.50p -2.52%National Express Group (NEX) 252.70p -2.36%Bovis Homes Group (BVS) 836.50p -2.22%Keller Group (KLR) 890.00p -2.20%Enterprise Inns (ETI) 122.20p -2.08%Millennium & Copthorne Hotels (MLC) 590.00p -1.99%Essentra (ESNT) 852.50p -1.96%Brit (BRIT) 250.00p -1.92%BC
More News
28 Jun 2022 19:10

Go-Ahead expects to reduce Norway onerous contract provision

(Alliance News) - Go-Ahead Group PLC on Tuesday said it has reached a new agreement with the Norwegian Railway Directorate, putting its rail contract on "satisfactory footing".

Read more
27 Jun 2022 09:55

LONDON BROKER RATINGS: Credit Suisse cuts Ocado; Liberum ups Whitbread

(Alliance News) - The following London-listed shares received analyst recommendations Monday morning:

Read more
27 Jun 2022 08:23

LONDON BRIEFING: UK financial regulator probes Wise CEO over taxes

(Alliance News) - Money transfers provider Wise on Monday said the UK regulator is investigating its chief executive after a tax breach.

Read more
27 Jun 2022 08:19

RBC Capital Markets lowers Go-Ahead to 'sector perform', raises target price

(Sharecast News) - Analysts at RBC Capital Markets lowered their target price on public transport operator Go-Ahead Group from 'outperform' to 'sector perform' on Monday, stating the risk/reward scenario for the stock now looked more balanced.

Read more
23 Jun 2022 09:42

LONDON BROKER RATINGS: Deutsche Bank raises Rentokil and cuts Intertek

(Alliance News) - The following London-listed shares received analyst recommendations Thursday morning and Wednesday:

Read more
14 Jun 2022 17:04

LONDON MARKET CLOSE: US Fed likely to mull 75 basis-point rate hike

(Alliance News) - Stocks in London ended lower on Tuesday with investors seemingly cautious as the US Federal Reserve's policy meeting gets underway as concerns arise that interest rates will be raised aggressively this year in a bid to rein in inflation.

Read more
14 Jun 2022 12:02

LONDON MARKET MIDDAY: Rebound stumbles as US Fed hike jitters grow

(Alliance News) - Tuesday's dead cat bounce didn't live past the morning in Europe, with the FTSE 100 back in the red at midday as investors fret over an upcoming US interest rate decision.

Read more
14 Jun 2022 11:03

SMALL-CAP WINNERS & LOSERS: Go-Ahead rises as bidding war emerges

(Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers among London Main Market small-caps on Tuesday.

Read more
14 Jun 2022 10:25

TOP NEWS: Australia's Kelsian still wants to bid for UK peer Go-Ahead

(Alliance News) - Kelsian Group Ltd on Tuesday urged the shareholders of Go-Ahead Group PLC to take no action on a rival takeover offer, saying it is in talks with Go-Ahead for a cash bid of its own.

Read more
14 Jun 2022 07:11

Go-Ahead agrees £648m takeover by Kinetic, Globalvia

(Sharecast News) - Transport operator Go-Ahead has accepted a £647.7m takeover offer from Australian bus firm Kinetic and Spanish infrastructure investor Globalvia Inversiones, but a takeover battle could emerge after Kelsian said it was still interested.

Read more
13 Jun 2022 18:17

UPDATE: Go-Ahead chooses GBP648 million bid from Kinetic consortium

(Alliance News) - Go-Ahead Group PLC late Monday announced its agreement to a takeover offer from Gerrard Investment Bidco Ltd, a subsidiary of a consortium consisting of Kinetic Holding Co Pty Ltd and Globalvia Inversiones SAU.

Read more
13 Jun 2022 17:03

LONDON MARKET CLOSE: China lockdown and inflation fears sink stocks

(Alliance News) - Stocks in London ended sharply lower on Monday on fears of a more aggressive campaign of Federal Reserve interest rate hikes which has given rise to concerns the US economy could be sent into recession next year.

Read more
13 Jun 2022 12:01

LONDON MARKET MIDDAY: UK GDP shrinkage fuels growth fears ahead of BoE

(Alliance News) - A worrying reading on the UK economy on Monday compounded market concerns over inflation and aggressive interest rate tightening, as a central bank-heavy week gets underway.

Read more
13 Jun 2022 11:14

SMALL-CAP WINNERS & LOSERS: Go-Ahead bid interest; ProCook falls more

(Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers among London Main Market small-caps on Monday.

Read more
13 Jun 2022 11:01

TOP NEWS SUMMARY: Yen hits 24-year low ahead of central bank decisions

(Alliance News) - The following is a summary of top news stories Monday.

Read more

Login to your account

Don't have an account? Click here to register.

Quickpicks are a member only feature

Login to your account

Don't have an account? Click here to register.