Shares News

Maybe. Britain's biggest car dealer – Pendragon – failed yesterday to take over its biggest listed rival Lookers. And Mr Bramall's 24.4 per cent stake in Lookers had a big, if not crucial, impact on the result.The result was a bad one for Nottingham-based Pendragon. It had set its stall out to get 51 per cent of acceptances. In the event it got 21 per cent. So even a stake as big as Mr Bramall's  ...

This is Money28 April 2006 HARVESTER and All Bar One pubs operator Mitchells & Butlers today outlined its defence strategy against an expected bid from tycoon Robert Tchenguiz, saying it would pay its shareholders at least £500m if they stick with the current management. WANT TO KNOW MORE? READER SERVICE: Share dealing FTSE: Winners and losers CHAT: Discuss stocks and shares OT ...

By Krishna Guha in Washington, Richard McGregor in Beijing and Chris Giles in LondonPublished: April 27 2006 15:18 | Last updated: April 27 2006 20:30The dollar fell to seven-month lows against the euro on Thursday after Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve, prepared the markets for a halt in the US rate-tightening cycle that began in June 2004. // China, meanwhile, moved to tackle a surge in new bank loans and investment by lifting its benchmark one-year lending rate by 0.27 of a perc ...

SAN FRANCISCO (Dow Jones) -- Canada's benchmark index fell on Thursday as commodity-sensitive stocks were hit by a surprise interest-rate hike by the People's Bank of China, its first rate increase since 2004. The S&P/TSX Composite Index fell 134 points, or 1.1%, to end at 12,187.69. The S&P/TSX 60 Index of blue chips lost 6.9 points, or 1%, and the S&P/TSX Venture Composite slum ...

The strong yen hit export stocks on Friday morning, with commodities shares sharply down following the rise in Chinese interest rates. // Much of the rise on commodity prices has been attributed to strong Chinese demand. Higher rates could dampen that demand. Individual companies showed a mixed response to earnings results, though there were dramatic swings in some stocks as a result. By midday ...

By Rahul Sharma SINGAPORE (Reuters) - China's surprise interest rate hike spooked Asian markets and pushed them lower on Friday, offsetting U.S. Federal Reserve chief's hints of a possible end of U.S. rate increases. Shares of Asian miners and exporters such as POSCO Co. Ltd. (005490.KS: Quote, Profile, Research) , the world's fifth-biggest steel maker, fell sharply after Beijing took steps to c ...

By Chris Sanders NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose on Thursday after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the Fed may pause in its 22-month cycle of raising borrowing costs, lifting shares of interest-rate sensitive companies such as banks and utilities. Shares of Bank of America Corp. (BAC.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) the No ...

By Bernard Simon in Toronto Published: April 27 2006 23:55 | Last updated: April 27 2006 23:55Canada’s Conservative government has scored a victory by signing a deal with the US to end a decades-long dispute over Canadian exports of softwood lumber. // The seven-year agreement “will finally put an end to this conflict”, Stephen Harper, prime minister, told parliament on Thursday. “The settlement  ...

Technology stocks inched higher overall Thursday as investors sifted the latest quarterly financial results and awaited those from Microsoft Corp., with comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke sparking a broader rally that reversed early session losses. Overall, the tech-laden Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) rose more than 11 points to close at 2,344. The key barometer of the sector's ...

The long-awaited go-ahead for the listing of the world’s first silver-backed exchange-traded fund came on Thursday after the Securities and Exchange Commission, the US regulator, approved plans by Barclays Global Investors to list its iShares silver trust on the American Stock Exchange. // Barclays said it would list the new tracker fund on Friday. The iShares silver trust is designed to attract more investors to the silver market, without them having to worry about buying the physical metal or ...