LONDON (ShareCast) - Early losses on Wall Street have kept London lower, while UK banks remain very much on the back foot on fears that a string of rights issues will be announced in the coming months.
Royal Bank of Scotland is sharply lower on speculation it will unveil a widely expected £10bn cash call tomorrow. Chancellor Alistair Darling wants banks to disclose the full extent of their sub-prime damage and take steps to repair their balance sheets.
Merrill Lynch had it in for Barclays Monday, lowering its rating to ‘neutral’ from ‘buy’, saying the bank is likely to need additional funding.
The Bank of England has confirmed details of a £50bn plan to swap bank mortgage debt for government bonds to ease the impact of the credit crunch on the housing market. That figure could double to £100bn, if needed, reports suggest.
ITV remains the best performer on rumours that BSkyB has received expressions of interest in its stake in ITV from European broadcaster RTL.
Shares in Persimmon moved higher after Panmure Gordon upgraded its recommendation on the housebuilder to ‘buy’ from ‘hold’ in an otherwise downbeat review of the UK sector.
Oil stocks continue to gush forward as crude prices continue to scale record highs. BP, Royal Dutch Shell and BG Group are surging ahead.
Rumours about British Energy continue with talks of several suitors currently undertaking due diligence, while Friends Provident is down after private equity group JC Flowers officially withdrew its interest late Friday.
Rentokil meanwhile has warned that trading at its City Link parcels business has got worse and it now expects the division to make a "significant full-year loss" for 2008.
Nightclub owner Luminar has played down weekend reports it may go private. "Luminar has noted the weekend media speculation regarding management buyout discussions with a third party.
Financial services group WH Ireland surged ahead after it received an unsolicited preliminary bid approach.
Ukrainian real estate company XXI Century Investments reported a 723.7% jump in full-year pre-tax profit
Drug group Vernalis is to get a cash injection of €18.4m from Paul Capital Healthcare in a financing agreement relating to frovatriptan, Vernalis' product for the treatment of migraine.
Coal development company Coal of Africa said the world’s largest steel company ArcelorMittal will take a 16% stake through a placement, while European Goldfields said it will take a 20% stake in the Turkey-focused gold explorer Ariana.
The Serious Fraud Office has decided to continue its price fixing case against Goldshield, sending the drug distributor to a four-month low.
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