The next focusIR Investor Webinar takes places on 14th May with guest speakers from Blue Whale Growth Fund, Taseko Mines, Kavango Resources and CQS Natural Resources fund. Please register here.

Less Ads, More Data, More Tools Register for FREE

Pin to quick picksRDSA.L Share News (RDSA)

  • There is currently no data for RDSA

Watchlists are a member only feature

Login to your account

Alerts are a premium feature

Login to your account

London midday: Stocks rise but markets cautious ahead of Fed decision

Wed, 30th Apr 2014 11:53

- Markets cautious ahead of FOMC outcome- Eurozone inflation picks up but misses consensus- Heritage Oil jumps on takeover offer- Shell and Tullow lead markets highertechMARK 2,775.59 -0.56%FTSE 100 6,776.83 +0.10%FTSE 250 15,813.39 -0.52%UK stocks were trading slightly higher on Wednesday but were rangebound in morning trade after markets hit an eight-week high the previous session.A raft of economic data and corporate earnings were keep traders busy today, while nervousness ahead of this evening's policy decision by the Federal Reserve prompted many to scale back risk.The Federal Open Market Committee begun its two-day policy meeting yesterday and is widely expected to continue tapering its asset purchase programme by $10bn each meeting. This will bring the monthly stock of bond buying down from $55bn to $45bn."It's very unlikely that they'd change this amount or announce anything different when there's no accompanying press conference. It would cause unnecessary panic in the markets, which the Fed has tried to avoid when possible," said Market Analyst Craig Erlam from Alpari.The FTSE 100 was trading 0.1% higher at 6,777 by midday after closing at 6,769.91 on Tuesday afternoon, its highest finish since March 6th.In economic news this morning, Eurozone inflation rose less than expected in April, according to the flash estimate published this morning by Eurostat. The annual rate of consumer price inflation rose to 0.7% this month after prices rose by 0.5% in March. However, this compared to the consensus estimate for a 0.8% rise. US stock futures were pointing to a lower start on Wall Street later on ahead of upcoming mortgage applications data and the ADP employment report, as well as a reading of US economic growth for the first quarter. Heritage Oil jumps after takeover offerHeritage Oil shares surged this morning after Energy Investments Global offer 320p a share to take over the company, some 25% above yesterday's closing price. The offer values the company at £924m. Heritage also announced today that profits more than doubled in 2013.Oil major Royal Dutch Shell rose strongly despite saying that first-quarter underlying earnings fell by 3%, which exclude £2.9bn of impairments in its Downstream division.Sector peer Tullow also gained after saying it is on track to meet its 2014 production guidance following a good performance since the start of the year.Rolls-Royce, the power systems group, was also higher after confirming media speculation that it is in talks with German engineer Siemens about the possible sale of its energy gas turbine and compressor division.High street retail giant Next was swinging between gains and losses despite lifting its guidance for sales and profits this year after a strong performance in the first quarter. The company also announced that it would pay a special dividend and raise the limit of its share buyback.Heading the other way was insurer Standard Life after underwhelming with a 1.5% rise in assets under administration in the first quarter.GlaxoSmithKline was in the red despite meeting expectations with a 2% rise in constant-currency core earnings per share to 21p. Revenues however declined by 2% to £5.6bn.Admiral fell after going ex-dividend, along with others including ITV, Croda, Cobham, G4S, Ferrexpo, Tesco, Reed Elsevier, Travis Perkins and Weir.FTSE 100 - RisersRoyal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 2,547.00p +4.77%Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 2,372.50p +4.06%Barratt Developments (BDEV) 364.50p +3.76%WPP (WPP) 1,264.00p +2.27%Capita (CPI) 1,076.00p +1.99%Tullow Oil (TLW) 881.00p +1.79%Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 1,039.00p +1.76%BG Group (BG.) 1,199.50p +1.61%Severn Trent (SVT) 1,853.00p +1.59%Shire Plc (SHP) 3,299.00p +1.10%FTSE 100 - FallersAdmiral Group (ADM) 1,390.00p -3.61%Tesco (TSCO) 293.05p -3.38%Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,161.00p -2.19%Reed Elsevier (REL) 864.50p -2.10%British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,415.00p -2.06%William Hill (WMH) 340.10p -2.04%GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,632.00p -2.01%ITV (ITV) 180.00p -2.01%Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 2,556.00p -1.88%Weir Group (WEIR) 2,679.00p -1.83%FTSE 250 - RisersHeritage Oil (HOIL) 313.40p +22.61%Aveva Group (AVV) 2,097.00p +7.26%Ophir Energy (OPHR) 265.00p +5.49%Afren (AFR) 159.00p +3.72%Playtech (PTEC) 654.50p +2.51%Cairn Energy (CNE) 183.70p +1.94%Bellway (BWY) 1,424.00p +1.79%Premier Oil (PMO) 343.00p +1.72%Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 104.10p +1.46%Soco International (SIA) 424.30p +1.39%FTSE 250 - FallersCSR (CSR) 604.00p -5.85%Supergroup (SGP) 1,317.00p -4.08%UBM (UBM) 646.00p -3.94%Hunting (HTG) 850.00p -3.57%SIG (SHI) 192.00p -3.57%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 228.60p -3.54%Elementis (ELM) 275.70p -3.47%Petra Diamonds Ltd.(DI) (PDL) 162.20p -3.45%IP Group (IPO) 174.10p -3.28%Cranswick (CWK) 1,197.00p -3.23%BC
More News
20 Jan 2022 12:01

LONDON MARKET MIDDAY: FTSE 100 stalls as AB Foods drags on index

LONDON MARKET MIDDAY: FTSE 100 stalls as AB Foods drags on index

Read more
20 Jan 2022 09:54

UPDATE 2-Oil stocks, GSK weakness pull FTSE 100 lower; Deliveroo jumps

(For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock markets, click LIVE/ or type LIVE/ in a news window)* Deliveroo fourth-quarter order growth jumps* Premier Foods top midcap gainer on strong profit outlook* Unilever abandons plan to buy GSK's ...

Read more
19 Jan 2022 21:37

Shell to carry out Pernis, Netherlands oil refinery maintenance until end of June

AMSTERDAM, Jan 19 (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell said on Wednesday it plans to carry out major maintenance work at its Pernis oil refinery in the Netherlands in the coming five months."We will inspect a large number of installations from the insid...

Read more
19 Jan 2022 08:56

LONDON MARKET OPEN: FTSE 100 steady despite UK inflation intensifying

LONDON MARKET OPEN: FTSE 100 steady despite UK inflation intensifying

Read more
18 Jan 2022 17:05

LONDON MARKET CLOSE: Stocks fall on worries over higher interest rates

LONDON MARKET CLOSE: Stocks fall on worries over higher interest rates

Read more
18 Jan 2022 13:08

UPDATE 1-Norway awards 53 new petroleum production licences

(Adds detail, quotes)OSLO, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Norway awarded 53 new petroleum production licences on the Norwegian continental shelf in the latest licensing round for mature areas, the oil and energy ministry said on Tuesday.Stakes were offered to...

Read more
18 Jan 2022 13:00

Angry investors seek to appoint board member to Third Point UK fund

LONDON, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Activist investors in Third Point's London-listed fund want independent director Richard Boleat appointed to the board to improve corporate governance, they said in a letter to shareholders on Tuesday.Third Point Investo...

Read more
18 Jan 2022 12:51

UPDATE 2-Climate activists lose court case against UK oil regulator

(Adds reaction from government minister)By Shadia NasrallaLONDON, Jan 18 (Reuters) - A UK High Court on Tuesday threw out a case brought by climate activists against the country's oil and gas regulator OGA, rejecting their argument that the OGA's ...

Read more
18 Jan 2022 12:51

UPDATE 1-Climate activists lose court case against UK oil regulator

(Add climate activists' response)By Shadia NasrallaLONDON, Jan 18 (Reuters) - A UK High Court on Tuesday threw out a case brought by climate activists against the country's oil and gas regulator OGA, rejecting their argument that the OGA's actions...

Read more
18 Jan 2022 12:14

LONDON MARKET MIDDAY: Markets red as inflation worries return to fore

LONDON MARKET MIDDAY: Markets red as inflation worries return to fore

Read more
18 Jan 2022 09:44

LONDON BROKER RATINGS: Goldman Sachs raises BT to Conviction Buy

LONDON BROKER RATINGS: Goldman Sachs raises BT to Conviction Buy

Read more
18 Jan 2022 09:03

LONDON MARKET OPEN: FTSE 100 slips despite oil boosting BP and Shell

LONDON MARKET OPEN: FTSE 100 slips despite oil boosting BP and Shell

Read more
17 Jan 2022 10:33

UPDATE 2-Oil majors, Iberdrola among winners set to harness Scottish wind

(Updates throughout)By Nina ChestneyLONDON, Jan 17 (Reuters) - Utility Iberdrola and oil majors BP and Shell are among companies offered seabed rights to develop offshore wind projects in the first tender of its kind in over a decade, Crown Estate...

Read more
17 Jan 2022 10:33

UPDATE 3-Scottish wind sale nets nearly $1 billion with Shell, BP among winners

(Adds comment from Shell, BP, analysts)By Nina ChestneyLONDON, Jan 17 (Reuters) - BP, Shell and utility Iberdrola were among the winners of seabed rights to develop Scottish offshore wind projects, in an auction which raised nearly 700 million pou...

Read more
17 Jan 2022 10:33

UPDATE 1-Crown Estate Scotland offers 17 projects seabed rights for offshore wind

(Adds more detail)By Nina ChestneyLONDON, Jan 17 (Reuters) - Crown Estate Scotland said on Monday it has offered seabed right agreements to 17 projects in its ScotWind leasing round which is aimed at supporting wind energy development.Out of 74 ap...

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.