Stocks in London faded into the close losing momentum ahead of the first interest rate decision by the US central bank this year.The FTSE 100 index closed down 35.74 points, 0.5%, at 7,630.57. The FTSE 250 ended up 8.45 points, marginally up, at 19,357.95 and the AIM All-Share closed down 0.14 of a point, marginally lower, at 754.75.The Cboe UK 100 ended down 0.3% at 763.97, the Cboe UK 250 closed

Compared to other retail verticals, Christmas is relatively less important to the pet care market. Nevertheless, UK market leader Pets at Home (PETS) will need to reassure investors that retail like-for-like sales momentum has been sustained when it bounds in with a third-quarter trading update on 30 January.Liberum Capital doesn't expect any reporting surprises, although the broker does remain ?c

In its first-quarter trading update in May, composite insurance giantAviva (AV.) reported strong growth across its retirement, health and general insurance lines.Retirement earnings were boosted by positive trends in the bulk purchase annuity market following a string of interest rate rises this year, and the firm hinted its pipeline for the second year looked strong.Meanwhile, health has benefite

Gordon retired in his late 50s after a successful career in media planning including a period working for The Sunday Times. He is a big fan of investing and calls his SIPP (self-invested personal pension) 'my family's future'.Dividing his time between a rented flat in Mexico City and a house in the UK, Gordon's investment journey stems from his interest in the general management of companies, thei

Selling pressure spilled over into Wednesday's session after US inflation eased less-than-expected, raising fears the Federal Reserve could be forced to act even more aggressively to tame price pressures.In contrast, data early Wednesday showed the UK inflation rate unexpectedly softened in August.The FTSE 100 index was down 0.8%, or 56.98 points, at 7,328.74 early Wednesday. The mid-cap FTSE 250

The human tragedy unfolding in Ukraine is having dramatic ramifications across the world, not least in the energy market.The US has banned the import of Russian oil, LNG (liquefied natural gas) and coal. Europe is not able to turn the taps off overnight as it is more reliant on Russia to meet its energy needs. However, the direction of travel is clear - the West is committed to weaning itself off

After the excitement surrounding hydrogen as a route to lowering global emissions, a message reinforced at the COP 26 climate summit, the poor performance of hydrogen investments over the last year is something of a surprise.Research by analysts at Liberum shows that over the 12 months to mid-January, the average return for fuel cell and electrolyser companies has been a loss of around 60% of thei

COP26 reinforced the move away from gas, coal and oil, while the energy crisis this year has partly been caused by the unpredictability of renewables - with less windy weather leading to a lower contribution from wind power.The solution to the intermittent nature of renewable energy supply is energy storage, providing a reliable means of storing up energy to smooth out periods when the sun isn't s

In late September 2021, when the UK market had its most recent wobble, many ESG or 'sustainable' stocks and funds experienced a sharper sell-off than the FTSE All-Share index, prompting some to wonder if the boom in ethical investing had run its course.Fast forward to today and the best of those ethical stocks and funds are trading at even higher levels than the start of September. Sustainable inv

London's FTSE 100 finished Monday's session 0.56% higher at 7,068.43 points as a risk appetite rebound took oil prices higher and drove demand for index heavyweights Royal Dutch Shell (RDSB) and BP (BP.), shares in both improving by more than 2% to £14.57 and 302.3p respectively.Amid the FTSE 250 ranks, low-cost airline EasyJet (EZJ) fell 14% to 586.4p on a UBS downgrade, having announced a £1.2

A hydrogen-themed investment trust planning to launch on the UK stock market will hope it has a better debut than another hydrogen investment product which launched earlier this year.Exchange-traded fund L&G Hydrogen Economy (HTWG) floated on the London market in February and has since fallen by nearly 20% in value. UK hydrogen-related stock ITM Power (ITM:AIM) is down nearly 30% over the same per

We're pleased to welcome back Malcolm from Edinburgh who is sharing his experience as someone in retirement taking charge of their investments for the first time.After a year-and-a-half of taking responsibility for investing for retirement through my SIPP and Stocks and Shares ISA, matters are becoming clearer. There is no going on endless holidays and checking my portfolio once a fortnight, but t

UK stocks closed higher on Thursday after the Bank of England soothed investor fears about rising inflation, saying it would keep rates on hold even if inflation overshot its 2% target.In the US the Dow Jones Industrials index and the S&P 500 made new all-time highs, while technology shares saw heavy selling as bond yields continued to climb.At 16:30 the FTSE 100 index of leading shares was 0.3% h

UK stocks gave up early gains on Thursday as rising bond yields put pressure on equities. The Bank of England left interest rates unchanged as expected as it tries to balance near-term contraction risks from the lockdown with brighter prospects as the vaccine programme continues to be rolled-out.The bank emphasized it would not tighten monetary policy before it saw clear signs of inflationary pres

UK stocks edged higher in early trading as investors looked to the Bank of England's monetary policy committee meeting at lunchtime for signs that official loose-money policy would continue for the foreseeable future.Despite a sharp spike in US 10-year yields and a drop in US index futures following a very 'dovish' Fed meeting last night, the FTSE 100 index of leading stocks gained 0.1% to 6,770 p

Hydrogen has had more than one false start over the last decade, but the combination of government climate targets, bans on diesel vehicles and a fall both in the underlying cost of production and the cost of green energy to produce it has seen a sharp spike in demand in the last three years.Without hydrogen, governments around the world simply can't meet their 2050 carbon-reduction targets. In th

When Moonpig (MOON) listed on the London stock market earlier this month it used a plethora of buzzwords to describe itself. It called itself a 'platform', talked about its 'proprietary technology and apps' and said it leaned heavily on 'data science'.This may seem curious for a business that basically sells an extensive range of greeting cards. As one analyst told Shares, it's a consumer of tech

Monday 9 November saw things change for investors as the surge of enthusiasm associated with finding a vaccine for Covid-19 buoyed markets. For the first time in many months the vast majority of my 30 shares rose markedly.This did not trigger a notable increase in buying and selling on my behalf. I reduced my investment in two funds but little else. It was pleasing though to see that half my share

Fast growing hydrogen stock Ceres Power (CWR:AIM) has gone a long way to fulfilling its potential after inking a deal with German giant Bosch that analysts have called its 'biggest milestone to date'.Ceres Power has seen its shares jump 295% this year as investors bet on hydrogen fuel cells playing a key role in decarbonising the global economy.The company makes a solid oxide fuel cell known as 'S

When America picks a new president next week, it's more than likely to have an impact on your investment portfolio whatever the outcome.US voters go to the polls on 3 November to decide whether Republican candidate Donald Trump deserves another four years in office, or whether the Democrat's Joe Biden should be elected the next US president.The general consensus seems to point to three likely outc