Stock Market News

It is expected that today will see Xstrata board members tell the mining company’s share holders that they should agree to a merger with Glencore, the commodities trader. The UK Takeover Panel has set today as the deadline for a decision. Glencore first announced its interest in a tie-up in May this year, but a disagreement over share...

Shares were slightly up across Europe at the end of the week as traders expect an announcement by China it is to introduce further measures to stimulate economic growth. However, investors are remaining cautious because of uncertainty surrounding Spain’s ability to initiate the fiscal reforms and spending cuts it will need for a financial...

Spain’s ailing economy has caused stock markets across Europe to fall. A general strike and fears that Greece is on the verge of exiting the single currency has also helped stocks to drop. A report from the Bank of Spain confirms that the country’s economy continued to shrink during the third quarter. Spain’s deepening recession and...

Shares in social network giant Facebook took a tumble at the beginning of the week after the respected markets publication, Barron’s, released a story in which it claimed that the website’s stock is still greatly overvalued. Since May, when Facebook listed on the stock exchange, the value of its shares has dropped by 40 per...

Stocks in Asia have slipped slightly as investors focus on the health of the global economy and lock in recent gains. The markets were recently stimulated by a decision by central banks to pump more cash into financial systems. Stocks in South Korea lost around one per cent but could rise again if Spain is awarded a bailout package and oil...

Chinese oil giant CNOOC could soon take control of Canada’s Nexen after shareholders approved a take over bid worth $15.1 billion. However, the deal is meeting with opposition from Canadian politicians and residents who do not believe that the country should hand its natural resources over to a wholly foreign owned firm. In July CNOOC...

A return to the Tokyo Stock Exchange by Japan Airlines has seen a strong demand for shares, which have risen in value by 2.6 per cent. Nearly three years ago the flag carrier was forced to file for bankruptcy and was removed from the stock exchange. Shares were relisted at 3,790 yen and have since risen in value to 3,890 yen. The initial...

Protests in China sparked by Japan’s decision to buy a group of Islands China claims it already owns has seen share prices of Japanese companies operating in China fall on the Nikkei in Tokyo. Japanese firms have taken the decision to suspend operations at factories in China as many fear the protests could get worse. Nissan Motors has...

An announcement last week that the US Federal Reserve will be introducing measures to help boost the economy has helped to push the world’s stock markets to multi-month highs. The new securities buying programme has resulted in investors putting money into riskier stocks and assets. The markets are also being supported by expectations...

Facebook founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has admitted that the dramatic drop in the share value of the world’s largest social networking site is disappointing. Since being floated in May this year at $38 per share, Facebook’s stock value has nearly halved. Mr Zuckerberg was addressing a TechCrunch Disrupt conference when...