Morning:
14°c
Barclays up
03.08.09
Shares in Barclays fluctuated in morning trade, falling nearly 2% in the opening minutes before putting in a respectable rally as chief executive John Varley's tour of City investors got underway.
After initially tumbling to 296½p in the first minute of trade, shares jumped as the morning progressed to be up 8p at 310p – a firm 3% improvement despite some elements of today's figures coming in slightly shy of City expectations.
Early broker reactions were broadly positive, with Cazenove's response setting the tone: “The results are in line with consensus but arguably better given a larger-then-expected loss on the fair value of its own debt,” it said. Cazenove left its underlying estimates for full-year profits unchanged. Barclays shares are now close to their 322¼p high for the year, which compares to their low of 47.3p in January.
