LONDON, April 26 (Reuters) – Britain’s benchmark share index
fell on Friday after a three-day rally, with weaker mining
stocks and caution ahead of U.S. economic data later in the
session prompting a pull-back.

Mining stocks were the biggest weights on the index, down 2
percent and easing off along with the price of copper
after a strong week which still sees the sector up 2.6 percent.

LONDON (Reuters) – A trading strategy based on changes in the number of times financial phrases are searched on Google could have generated returns in excess of 300 percent over the last decade on the Dow Jones, a study has found.

The findings could prove particularly useful for computer-driven trading firms that use the Internet and Twitter to help gauge investor sentiment.

LONDON, April 25 (Reuters) – A hasty scramble to ditch
European banks after Cyprus took a contentious sovereign bailout
drove some stocks lower than the credit market suggests they
should be, potentially leaving them ripe for a rebound.

The rush for the exit after policymakers proposed forcing
bank deposit holders to help pay for the bailout hit banks
across the euro zone. But, analysts say, it has left value in
stocks such as Santander that have been punished too
severely relative to the market’s pricing of their default risk.

LONDON, April 23 (Reuters) – European shares rose on
Tuesday, buoyed by strong earnings updates and fresh hopes for
further monetary easing in the region following mixed macro
economic data.

Chip-makers ARM and STMicroelectronics
surged 8.6 percent and 5.7 percent respectively, leading the
gainers in the FTSEurofirst 300 index of leading
shares.

LONDON (Reuters) – The FTSE rallied for a second straight session on Monday, its banks boosted by signs of progress towards a resolution of political deadlock in Italy.

The FTSE 100 rose 30.71 points, or 0.5 percent, at 6,317.30 by 0825 GMT. It is up 1.3 percent since hitting 10-week lows last Thursday.

LONDON, April 22 (Reuters) – Britain’s FTSE rallied for a
second straight session on Monday, its banks boosted by signs of
progress towards a resolution of political deadlock in Italy.

The FTSE 100 rose 30.71 points, or 0.5 percent, at
6,317.30 by 0825 GMT. It is up 1.3 percent since hitting 10-week
lows last Thursday.

LONDON, April 22 (Reuters) – UK corporate dividends fell
sharply in the first quarter of 2013 when compared with the
large one-off payouts seen a year ago, although underlying
growth was still solid, a study showed on Monday.

First-quarter dividend payouts totalled 14.1 billion pounds
($21.56 billion), a drop-off of nearly a quarter from 18.8
billion pounds a year earlier, research by British firm Capita
Registrars showed.