FTSE

Shares in Royal Dutch Shell were up in morning trading on the FTSE 100 after the group said it had nearly doubled its earnings in the second quarter of the year.

Shares in ARM Holdings were up on the FTSE 100 before the close today after the technology company said its second quarter profits had soared by 167 per cent.

Shares in BAE Systems and Rolls-Royce were down in afternoon trading on the FTSE 100 after the companies signed a £700 million fighter jet deal and ahead of half year results due tomorrow.

Shares in packaging company Rexam were down on the FTSE 100 in afternoon trading despite the group reporting a rise in pre-tax profit of 22 per cent in the half year ended 30 June.

Shares in British American Tobacco were broadly flat on the FTSE 100 in morning trading after the company reported a rise in profit of 14 per cent in the half year ended 30 June.

Shares in BP were down on the FTSE 100 in morning trading as the scale of the energy giants losses started to sink in with investors.

Shares in Lloyds Banking Group were down on the FTSE 100 in morning trading after it emerged that the part nationalised bank would no longer be offering payment protection insurance (PPI) to new borrowers.

Airblue flight ED202 has crashed in the Pakistani Hills just days after a number of flights from Benazir Bhutto airport - where the flight was heading too - was cancelled due to poor visibility in the fog. It is unknown why the plane crashed.

Shares in eastJet were down on the FTSE 250 after the company said that it had lost around £65 million as a result of cancellations following the closure of European airspace caused by a giant ash cloud emanating from a volcano in Iceland.

Centrica, owner of British Gas have posted up 65 pct on last year after cold weather and acquisitions helped grow earnings above forecasts at £886 million.

Shares in software company Misys were up on the FTSE 250 in afternoon trading after the group reported a rise in adjusted operating profit of 26 per cent to £148 million in the year ended 31 May.

As the Farnborough airshow draws to a close we take a look at the A400M, EADS military transporter - nicknamed Grizzly in development - to see if it can be a success?

Shares in British banks were up on the FTSE 100 in morning trading after strong results from European banks.

Shares in BP were up in morning trading on the FTSE 100 despite the energy company reporting a record quarterly loss of $17 billion.

Halfords, the car and cycle retailer's, share price has fallen on the FTSE 250 after a sluggish first quarter held back sales.

Shares in William Hill were down slightly on the FTSE 250 after the gambling group said its Online division would be setting up a new telephone betting operation in Gibraltar, while closing its British based telephone betting subsidiary, William Hill Credit Limited (WHCL), in order to avoid high taxes.

Shares in publishing company Pearson were up on the FTSE 100 in afternoon trading after the group posted an 83 per cent rise in profit for the first half of the year.

Government minister Vince Cable has announced a new intiative to increase lending to hard pressed businesses after the Business Secretary warned they could face loan agreements if they do not act now.

BP have announced today that work continues on the relief well at the site of the oil leak, after a fierce Tropical Storm called Bonnie intervened over the weekend.

ARM Holdings, the chipmaker, has risen 2.04 pct on the FTSE 100 following its licensing arrangements with No 1 software maker Microsoft Corp.

Shares in British banks were up on the FTSE 100 in morning trading following the release of the results of "stress tests" on Friday evening.

Shares in Reckitt Benckiser were down on the FTSE 100 in morning trading despite posting a rise in net income of 23 per cent in the second quarter of the year to £380 million.

The government has cancelled a lead firm on the e-borders contract over delays, Immigration Minister Damien Green said.

Shares in Fuller, Smith & Turner were up in afternoon trading after the pub-owner reported a rise in sales in the quarter ended 17 July.

Shares in BP were down on the FTSE 100 in afternoon trading as BPs attempts to deal with a catastrophic oil leak look like being hampered by a tropical storm gathering in the Bahamas.

UK's Gross Domestic Product grew by 1.1 pct last quarter as economists forecasts were left behind in a massive construction, business and manufacturing growth that beat forecasts by as much as two times forecast of 0.5 - 0.7 pct.

Shares in British banks were broadly up in morning trading on the FTSE 100 after stronger than expected GDP figures for the second quarter helped offset fears about the results of stress tests due to be released today.

Shares in Vodafone were up in morning trading on the FTSE 100 after the group said it had returned to organic revenue growth in the quarter ended 30 June.

Shares in BP were up in afternoon trading on the FTSE 100 despite coming under fire for posting doctored pictures relating to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico on its website.

Santander is apparently gearing up to launch an IPO for its Abbey National and Alliance & Leicester UK (including Bradford & Bingley deposits) onto the stock market to raise money for its expansion here.