FTSE

Shares in JD Wetherspoon were down on the FTSE 250 in morning trading after the pub chain reported a rise in pre-tax profit for the full year ended 25 July 2010.

Shares in BAE Systems were down on the FTSE 100 in afternoon trading after the defence giant said that it would be cutting 946 jobs ahead of government cuts resulting from the upcoming defence spending review.

Shares in Redrow were down on the FTSE 250 in afternoon trading after the housebuider reported a slender return to profit in year ended 30 June.

Shares in Home Retail were down in morning trading after the group reported a fall in sales in the first half of the year.

Shares in British banks were up on the FTSE 100 in morning trading following falls earlier in the week.

Shares in Morrisons were down on the FTSE 100 as profit-taking began after the supermarket chain reported a rise in underlying profit in the half year ended 1 August.

Shares in Morrison (Wm) supermarkets were up on the FTSE 100 in afternoon trading ahead of the group's half year results, due out tomorrow.

Shares in BP were up on the FTSE 100 ahead of a report in which the oil giant is expected to take some responsibility for the disaster at the Deepwater Horizon oil rig and the oil spill that followed in the Gulf of Mexico.

Shares in British banks continued to fall on the FTSE 100 in morning trading today, following losses yesterday induced by a report by the Wall Street Journal.

Shares in Barratt Developments were down on the FTSE 250, after the housebuilder reported another loss in the full year ended 30 June.

Shares in Barratt Developments were down on the FTSE 250 in afternoon trading ahead of the housebuilder's full year results, which are due out tomorrow.

Shares in Genus were up on the FTSE 250 in afternoon trading after the animal breeding technology company reported a rise in pre-tax profit in the full year ended 30 June.

Shares in British banks were down on the FTSE 100 in morning trading following a report in the Wall Street Journal, which suggested that recent "stress tests" of European banks were not vigorous enough.

Shares in Whitbread were down on the FTSE 100 in morning trading as "market malaise" offset a strong rise in sales reported for the half year ended 19 August.

Shares in Barclays were down on the FTSE 100 in morning trading after the bank said that its investment banking president, Bob Diamond, will be replacing John Varley as CEO at the end of March next year.

Shares in Barclays bank were down on the FTSE 100 in afternoon trading after the company said that it would be recruiting for as many as 600 new jobs in Scotland.

Shares in British banks were up on the FTSE 100 in morning trading as the finance sector looked to be recovering from the recession by beginning to hire once again.

Shares in easyJet were up on the FTSE 250 in morning trading after the budget airline reported a rise in passenger numbers of 8.4 per cent for the month of August.

Shares in BP were up on the FTSE 100 after the oil giant said that the cost of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico had risen by over $2 billion from last month to $8 billion.

Shares in British banks were mixed on the FTSE 100 in morning trading ahead of key data on unemployment in the USA.

Shares in RBS were up on the FTSE 100 in afternoon trading, despite Britain's largest trade union, Unite, accusing the bank of being a "horror story".

Shares in Go-Ahead Group were up on the FTSE 250 in morning trading after the transport company reported a fall in full year profits, but a rise in revenue.

Shares in Hays were up on the FTSE 250 in morning trading, despite the recruitment firm reporting a significant drop in pre-tax profit in the full year ended 30 June.

Ed Balls, potential leader of the UK opposition, has dismissed potential growth in the UK as GDP figures released today show a 1.2 pct growth.

Shares in William Hill were down on the FTSE 250 in morning trading after the gambling group reported a rise in pre-tax profit in the half year ended 29 June.

Shares in British banks were up on the FTSE 100 in morning trading following some good results from French bank Credit Agricole.

Shares in G4S were up on the FTSE 100 in morning trading after the security solutions group reported a rise in profit before interest, tax and amortisation (PBITA) in the half year ended 30 June.

Global drinks maker, Diageo has published its preliminary results and said that it expects 2010-2011 to be a good year for the company after sales trends in developing markets for the six months to June 30 offset poor trading in North America and Europe.

Shares in Diageo were down on the FTSE 100 in afternoon trading ahead of the drinks group's full year results, due out tomorrow.

Shares in Admiral Group were up on the FTSE 100 in afternoon trading after the insurance group reported a rise in pre-tax profit of 21 per cent in the first half year.