Revealed: The five rarest 50p coins as Britain prepares to celebrate half a century of decimalisation... including one which could sell for £900
Forgotten and driven to ruin: Last week we revealed small firms falling through cracks in Chancellor's aid packages - the huge response reveals why he must act...NOW
After we revealed serious flaws in British Gas's remote heating app last November...Hive is still not working, say furious users
Death is cruel, but pain felt by relatives made worse when scant details are left about how to manage an individual's legacy - so leave your finances in order
Are you putting off YOUR tax return? Five tips for tackling that dreaded self-assessment form before the 31 January deadline
The best car for 2021 is also the cheapest: Dacia's new £8,000 Sandero is named 'Car of the Year' - see which other models are recommended to drivers
Drivers who fall behind on car finance payments can have their vehicles repossessed by lenders from February as FCA's Covid-19 ban ends
Car competition company Best of the Best sees shares rocket after revenues nearly treble as it becomes a fully digital business
Banks warned against scrapping protections for online shopping scam victims amid fears they want to stop paying out for purchase fraud
ALEX BRUMMER: Our economy will remain under restrictions until Easter, but the quicker it is brought back the faster tax revenues will flow back to the Exchequer
Market report: Tuesday close
By Mickey Clark for MailOnline
Updated: 12:00 EST, 22 August 2006
EARLY gains were wiped out in London today as share prices slammed into reverse amid talk that the marketplace had been hit by a massive computerised sell programme.
One leading institution is believed to be taking a bearish view of short-term prospects for the equity market amid further signs of a slowdown in the US economy, and has begun liquidating part of its equity portfolio. Some traders say the sale could have been as much as £500m.
Whatever its size, it was inevitable that, in such thin trading conditions, it would have an adverse effect on the rest of the market. The FTSE 100 index, which had sported an early rise of 24 points, made an about-turn and was left nursing a loss of 31.9 at 5883.3.
Shades of the black horse. City speculators were getting themselves worked-up into a lather over revived talk that Lloyds TSB, the UK's fifth biggest High Street bank, may soon be targeted by an overseas rival.
The names of Bank of America and Wells Fargo are again being put forward. Nothing new there, then. Perhaps that is why the bank, famed for its black horse logo, soon ran out of steam. Having touched 530½p, the price saw its lead pared back to just 1p at 523p. Apart from the usual burst of takeover talk every few weeks, investors are also keen to buy Lloyds because the shares yield 6.5%.
National Grid fell 3½p to 631½p despite US broker Morgan Stanley resuming coverage of the shares with an overweight recommendation and 695p target.
It described the company as the cheapest of the regulated utilities and said 3G rollout as well as new technology developments meant the wireless division should keep growing at a strong rate in the near future. New boss Steve Holliday takes over running National Grid at year end.
Vodafone firmed ½p to 110½p as new chairman Sir John Bond continues to put his money where his mouth is. He has bought a further 90,000 shares at 110½p, taking his total holding in the company to 207,620 shares, or less than 1% of the company.
Social housing contractor Mears rose 7¾p to 278p after adding more £1m to pre-tax profits of £5.33m in the first six months of the year. Chairman Bob Holt remains as bullish as ever about prospects. 'I am confident that our full-year results will again be at the top end of expectations and reiterate our commitment to delivering impressive sustainable growth into the future,' he said.
Broker Altium Securities described new contracts totalling £170m as encouraging and repeated its add rating and 300p target on the shares.
Aim-listed ArthroKinetic dipped 1½p to 53½p. The orthopaedic specialist's shares have more than halved in the past week but the company says it knows of no reason for the setback.
Making its debut on Aim today was Aurelian Oil & Gas, following a placing of 22.9m shares at 55p to raise £12.6m by broker Fox-Davies Capital. The shares touched a peak of 59¾p before settling at 54½p.
Aurelian wants the money to buy, explore and develop oil and gas properties in central Europe. The group, valued at £73.8m, already has a number of gas fields in Romania that are expected to begin production shortly.
It was also the first day of trading on Aim for Zenergy Power, a maker and developer of commercial applications for superconductormaterials. Broker Teather & Greenwood has placed 36m shares at 84p, valuing the entire group at £30m. The shares opened at 84½p before touching 100p and closing at 99½p.
Shares of Aldgate Capital were suspended at 14¼p. The group's proposed acquisition of the Canadian firm Motion Picture Distribution on behalf of hedge fund Marwyn Investment Management will be classified as a reverse takeover.
Market report: Tuesday close - Aug 22, 2006
Forgotten and driven to ruin: Last week we revealed small...
After we revealed serious flaws in British Gas's remote...
Beyond Bitcoin: Number two crypto Ethereum is climbing faster and gave rise to the 'DeFi' industry that's netted some investors up to 11,000% in a year
Santander makes THIRD interest rate cut to its 123 current account in a year with customers soon receiving just 0.3% on balances up to £20,000
A quarter of a million small businesses could GO BUST this year, trade body warns as it calls for more government support in latest lockdown