The London market resumed its rally today as investors continued their hunt for potential takeover candidates.

Scottish Power was among the blue-chip firms trying to lift spirits in London today as it benefited from continued takeover speculation.

The London market suffered a sharp reversal of fortunes today to lose hold of lunchtime gains and close deeply in the red.

DIY firm Kingfisher led the FTSE 100 Index higher today as renewed bid speculation caused investors to pile into its shares.

Takeover talk and oil stocks helped the London market to notch up healthy gains today.

The FTSE 100 Index was heading towards a new milestone today as takeover talk continued to surround broadcaster ITV.

THE two executives who left Aer Lingus in tandem with new British Airways chief executive Willie Walsh are unlikely to join their former boss — for now.

Retailer Next managed to buck the negative trend in London today as stronger-than-expected results pleased investors.

Retailers bucked the negative trend in the London market today after high street giant Next pleased investors.

Media stocks were buoying the mood today as the London market made a positive start to the week.

London equities stayed in positive mode today as traders voiced cautious optimism about the outlook.

Media stocks were driving London shares higher today following a host of broker upgrades and a major acquisition by advertising giant WPP.

Supermarket chains breathed fresh life into London shares today after higher oil prices had prompted a lacklustre start to trading.

The bears returned to Wall Street today, sending stocks lower as oil prices rose, a downbeat outlook from Cisco Systems weighed on technology shares and investors started having second thoughts about this week’s interest rate hike.

Unexpectedly high demand for no-calorie sweeteners and a fall in crop prices led British sugar and starch group Tate & Lyle to raise expectations for profits today.

STOCKBROKERS Smith Barney expect Ryanair to be Europe's most profitable airline this year.

Stocks fell today as lower-than-expected activity in the manufacturing sector and a slight rise in weekly jobless claims stifled investor enthusiasm after two days of gains.

Food and beverage giant C&C is being tipped to make a stock market debut next month, with shares being sold to institutional investors only.

Investor uncertainty pushed stocks lower on Wall Street today in volatile trading, with networker Cisco Systems’ tentative spending outlook hitting technology shares hard.

RYANAIR’S share price finished up 10c yesterday following its near 30% drop on Wednesday.

The Dow Jones industrial average reached its highest level since mid-2002 today as investors greeted strong earnings from General Electric Co and Juniper Networks Inc.

Stocks in the United States retreated today after a report on November employment revealed disappointing job growth and Intel Corp issued a forecast that fell short of expectations.

Better-than-expected profits from Motorola lifted Wall Street higher today as investors grew more optimistic that third-quarter earnings in general will be strong. The Dow Jones industrials rose nearly 90 points to a 16-month high.

Stocks rose today for the first time in three sessions although the market’s course was choppy as investors weighed upbeat earnings from Adobe Systems Inc against a brokerage downgrade of IBM.

New worries about terrorism and another disappointing tech outlook sent US stocks falling sharply for a second straight session today, with technology stocks and the Nasdaq composite index bearing the brunt of the selling.

Wall Street ended a stunning second quarter quietly today as fund managers spent the day repositioning their holdings, but the narrow losses didn’t stop the Standard & Poor’s 500 index from achieving its best quarterly gain since the final three months of 1998.

RYANAIR rival EasyJet made after-tax losses of €63.3 million in the last six months as Europe’s biggest low-cost airline struggled to match its Irish counterpart in the earnings stakes.

A lacklustre session ended on the back foot today as the FTSE 100 Index failed to break past the 4200 mark.

Wall Street passed another milestone in its budding recovery today as the Dow Jones industrials crossed 9,000 for the first time in six weeks.

The FTSE-100 Index ended a subdued session on the back foot today as traders wondered how to take the US Federal Reserve’s shock interest rate cut.

US stock prices have made some solid gains despite another choppy session, with The Dow Jones industrial average ended the day up 54.06, or 0.5%, at 9,845.15.