London's FTSE 100 edges up 11.14 points to 6,568.51 on Tuesday as ongoing uncertainty over Federal Reserve monetary policy and concerns over the US debt ceiling continue to dominate sentiment. One stand-out performer is business publisher and events group Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM), which reverses some of its losses since the start of September as an upbeat pre-close trading update...

Irish oil firm Petrel Resources (PET:AIM) should be rerated as further details emerge about its farm-out deal with Aussie business Woodside Petroleum (WPL:ASX). The small cap explorer has hardly moved since the tie-up was announced last month (28 Jun).Petrel's chief executive officer David Horgan has told Shares that both parties have kept a lid on the contents of the agreement, covering its...

The big story of the week has been a new slump in the gold price, falling below $1,200 per ounce. This represents its lowest level in nearly three years. Shares took a bearish view on gold nearly two months ago (see Cover, 9 May) and reiterated this stance yesterday in our 'sell' story on Highland Gold. Key to the falling metal price is the actions of the US amid signs it could soon wind down...

The week has kicked off with renewed speculation of a possible takeover of mobile telecoms giant Vodafone (VOD), driving shares in Britain's second biggest quoted company up 5% up to 195.5p. A report from the FT claims a bid from US telcos AT&T (T:NYSE) and Verizon Communications (VZ:NYSE) is in the offering, worth a staggering £245 billion, if 'sources' close to events are on the money.The...