Since BP (BP.) reported its full-year results on 6 February, events in the Middle East have helped drive Brent crude oil prices higher to bubble around the $90 per barrel mark.While this has already provided a boost to BP?s share price, it is only likely to have affected the last few weeks of the first-quarter trading period which BP will be reporting on when it updates the market on 7 May.Investo

London?s FTSE 100 pushed higher on Tuesday afternoon, as its winning streak looks set to continue, though blue-chip benchmarks in Frankfurt and Paris struggled as shares in carmakers went into reverse.The FTSE 100 index was up 47.90 points, 0.6%, at 8,194.93. The FTSE 250 slipped just 2.92 points, to 20,081.87, and the AIM All-Share was up 0.85 of a point, 0.1%, at 764.18.The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.

Investors in London continued to show confidence, as stocks at the open on Tuesday added to Monday?s gains, boosted by the prospect of interest rate cuts.The FTSE 100 index opened up 33.06 points, 0.4%, at 8,056.93. The FTSE 250 was up 54.48 points, 0.3%, at 19,653.87, and the AIM All-Share was up 2.14 points, 0.3%, at 751.32.The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.3% at 804.24, the Cboe UK 250 was up 0.2% at 17

London?s FTSE 100 achieved a record close on Monday, as sabre-rattling in the Middle East began to die down, while the pound struggled on renewed hope that the Bank of England is taming UK inflation.Among individual shares, there was some M&A impetus for Tyman and Hipgnosis Songs Fund. A bullish broker note lifted some UK high street and grocer stalwarts, though model train maker Hornby went off t

iShares Automation & Robotics ETF(RBTX) £10.22Fund size: £2.77 billionIn scenes from the film I, Robot, androids can be seen doing all sorts of household tasks ? running errands, carry heavy shopping, cleaning the home, for example. In the real world most robots do repetitive, heavy-lifting, and dangerous tasks in places like car factories.Yet humans and robots are forming a close friendship lik

Stock prices in London closed lower on Tuesday as hopes continued fading for three US Federal Reserve interest rate cuts this year, and as tensions between Iran and Israel added to investors? fears.The FTSE 100 index closed down 145.17 points, 1.8%, at 7,820.36. The FTSE 250 ended down 354.35 points, 1.8%, at 19,344.54, and the AIM All-Share closed down 12.00 points, down 1.6%, at 738.28.The Cboe

EBITDA above pandemic peakFull year deficit reducedCEO Moulding flags revenue growth returnE-commerce company THG (THG), the owner of beauty sites Cult Beauty and Lookfantastic and the online sports nutrition brand Myprotein, reported significantly narrowed full year losses for 2023 as CEO Matthew Moulding hailed the firm?s return to revenue growth.Shares in THG ticked 2% lower to 66.6p as investo

Positive momentum continuesRecord first quarter sales10% earnings upgrade impliedAffordable colour cosmetics supplier Warpaint London?s (W7L:AIM) stunning cycle of upgrades continues.The company, which supplies its wares to the likes of Tesco (TSCO), Boots and Superdrug, has raised its year-to-December 2024 outlook after experiencing continued rapid growth in the first quarter, sending shares in t

In retrospect, it seems clear the tipping point for AI (artificial intelligence) was the release in November 2022 of OpenAI?s free-to use ChatGPT system.Until that point, most AI products were being developed privately and weren?t widely available to the public, added to which most were fairly clunky whereas ChatGPT was able to interact in a conversational way, answering questions, challenging inc

In a world of thousands of stocks, certain people just want to focus on ones that are doing well. If these stocks are part of a group with a snappy acronym or label, they must surely matter, right? That is the widespread view among the investment community.Investors love a narrative and what better way to hook people in than with a label that says, ?look at me?. The Magnificent Seven is the latest

Warren Buffett?s antipathy toward gold as an investment is well known, thanks in part to a speech the Sage of Omaha gave at Harvard in 1998. Buffett acidly asserted that: ?Gold gets dug out of the ground in Africa, or someplace. Then we melt it down, dig another hole, bury it again and pay people to stand around guarding it. It has no utility. Anyone watching from Mars would be scratching their he

There was interesting market reaction to the recent decision (5 March) by builders merchant Travis Perkins (TPK) to slash its dividend by a whopping 58%.At first the stock was down a little but it quickly rebounded and actually began trading higher as the day progressed. Now it?s important to add some context, the shares had dropped by a quarter over the last 12 months and a cut was widely expecte

Out of more than 3,500 regulated investment funds in the UK industry VT Argonaut Absolute Return (B7FT1K7) says to ?the best of its knowledge? it is the only one to have delivered double-digit returns for the last five years in a row.The fund?s performance over the past year is particularly eye-catching, returning more than 30% to investors. Since launch in 2009 the fund has achieved a return of 2

US stocks continued their journey skyward ahead of the Federal Reserve meeting on Wednesday night only to return to earth with a bump on Thursday on a combination of hawkish comments from the central bank and uninspiring tech earnings.While no-one expected interest rates to be cut from their current level of 5.25% to 5.5%, the monetary policy statement was less conciliatory than expected with Fed

Despite well-documented cost-of-living pressures, consumers continue to set aside cash for affordable luxuries such as cosmetics which make them feel good about their appearance and add a little glamour to their lives.In contrast to the slowing growth being reported by the large luxury goods groups, companies which sell makeup, skincare and haircare products and other beauty and wellness wares are

£250 million investment into data and technologyTargeting a further £175 million gross savingsShares up 5% year-to-dateShares in WPP (WPP) were up nearly 3% to 802p in morning trading as the advertising giant upgraded its medium-term targets due to cost cutting and structural savings. The structural savings - announced at a capital markets day in London - will deliver annualised net cost savings

2023 profits shy of estimatesTougher trading seen in DecemberBoard envisions brighter 2024Shares in Inspecs (SPEC:AIM) plunged almost 30% to a 12-month low of 62.1p after the eyewear company warned its performance for the 2023 calendar year would be below market expectations due to softer sales in December.The market took a dim view of the news, although Bath-headquartered Inspecs said it expected

European equities went into Friday afternoon on the up, with measures to support China?s property sector and a forecast-defying final-quarter for luxury goods juggernaut LVMH lifting the mood.Focus in the afternoon will be on the Federal Reserve?s favoured US inflation gauge. A cooler than expected reading could swing the pendulum back in favour of a March rate cut.The FTSE 100 index was up 92.54

Every year this column tracks the ratings put on stocks across the FTSE 100 and FTSE 350 by the investment banks which provide research on the UK equity market. What catches the eye this year is that the analyst community is the most bullish (and least bearish) it has ever been since our first survey back in 2015, based on stock-specific, public recommendations.Analysts have become progressively m

US revenues jump 47% year-on-yearFanDuel maintains leading market positionUS listing expected 29 JanuaryGlobal betting and gaming group Flutter Entertainment (FLTR) topped the FTSE 100 leader board with the shares jumping 12% to £147.66 after revealing strong fourth quarter revenue growth and market share gains.The shares have been the standout performer in the sector over the last year gaining 2