Shares News

David Parkin Business Editor CADBURY Schweppes is to test the appetite of rival confectionery firms for Butterkist popcorn after putting the 67-year-old brand up for sale. The company, which earlier this year overtook Mars to become the world's biggest selling confectioner, said it was open to offers for the Yorkshire-based Monkhill business that makes the brand. Monkhill generates around £80m eac ...

Markets across Asia eked out moderate gains Friday on the back of a late afternoon tech-led rally, closing out a week of trading that saw regional markets at all-time or multi-year highs. Tokyo ended the first week of the new financial year with the 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average, up 74.04 points, or 0.4%, 17,563.37, its best close since July 10, 2000. The break above the 17,500 level caps a 1,10 ...

Most U.S. technology stocks fell on Friday as investors locked in profits that had sent the Nasdaq to its best levels in over five years earlier in the week. Shares of Research In Motion Ltd. sank after the maker of the BlackBerry wireless e-mail device issued a financial forecast that disappointed. RIM's stock fell after its forecast overshadowed its quarterly profit and higher revenue. The ...

U.S. stocks moved lower in late-trading Friday after a strong March employment report stoked interest-rate fears, and threatened to wipe out all the week's gains for the Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, however, still remains on track to post a modest rise. The Dow industrials (DJI) were down 88 points at 11,129.. The Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) wa ...

South Korean interest rates appear to be reaching a peak, economists said on Friday after the Bank of Korea’s new governor signalled that he expected the currency to remain strong, keeping inflation in check. // As foreign buying propelled the Korean won to a fresh eight-and-a-half-year high against the dollar, the central bank left interest rates on hold at 4 per cent to assess the impact of the domestic recovery and oil prices on inflation in Asia’s fourth largest economy. Markets expect at  ...

LONDON (Dow Jones) -- Italians will be heading to the polls on Sunday and Monday with about as much enthusiasm as they would summon to tuck into a plate of overcooked pasta. It's not that the campaign pitting Prime Minister and center-right candidate Silvio Berlusconi against former European Commission president Romano Prodi hasn't had its moments. It's just that they weren't the uplifting k ...

Technology stocks edged higher overall on Friday, though shares of Research In Motion Ltd. sank after the maker of the BlackBerry wireless e-mail device issued a financial forecast that disappointed. RIM's stock fell after its forecast overshadowed its quarterly profit and higher revenue. The Canada-based firm plans to boost its spending on sales, marketing and product development. The stock ...

By Anna Driver ATLANTIC CITY, New Jersey (Reuters) - Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK.N: Quote, Profile, Research) asked a judge on Friday to dismiss the punitive phase of this Vioxx liability case, arguing that the plaintiff's attorneys had not presented evidence that showed the drugmaker hid data on its painkiller from regulators, but the motion was denied. The punitive phase of the Vioxx trial held in  ...

SAN FRANCISCO (Dow Jones) -- Security Capital Assurance Ltd., a new holding company for the financial-guaranty insurance and reinsurance businesses of XL Capital Ltd., early Friday filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission to raise up to $100 million in an initial public offering. Security Capital said it expects to use the money to pay for further expansion in the financial-guaranty ma ...

NEW YORK (Dow Jones) -- Mattress giant Sealy Corp. turned in double-digit percentage gains Friday after stuffing its $448 million initial public offering with more shares and pricing at the top of its range. The Trinity, N.C. woke up as a public company with a first trade at $17.50 a share, above its $16 a share price. The stock rose to $17.70 in recent action for a rise of nearly 11%. Sealy ...