With shares in UK high-street bellwether Next (NXT) trading close to all-time highs above £90 despite the recent pull-back in markets, there is a fair bit riding on its upcoming first-quarter trading update (1 May).When it posted full-year results in late March, the firm said it had been ?a long time since we started a year in a more positive frame of mind? after a better-than-expected performanc

There was a general wringing of hands on 19 April over the latest monthly retail sales figures published by the ONS (Office for National Statistics) which showed the volume of goods bought flatlined from February to March rather than increasing by 0.3% as expected.However, when measured on an annual basis rather than a month-on-month basis ? which to our mind seems a much fairer comparison ? volum

Interest rates are expected to stay higher for longer to combat the sticky inflation which remains a threat to investors? hard-earned wealth and purchasing power. During periods of high inflation, it is crucial to invest in companies that possess pricing power, because these firms can pass on increased costs to customers, enabling them to maintain profit margins and generate the robust cash flows

Net interest income fallsCost-to-income ratio jumpsFull-year guidance maintainedThe UK?s largest mortgage lender, Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY), delivered a weak first-quarter trading update with most of the key metrics seemingly heading in the wrong direction.The lack of mention of share buybacks or guidance on the dividend also disappointed investors, however confirmation of the bank?s full-year t

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

Investors in London showed confidence on Monday, as Ocado boosted the FTSE 100 despite shareholder pressure to move its listing to the US, while takeover talks drove Hipgnosis Songs Fund and Tyman in the FTSE 250.Amongst individual stocks, Ocado boosted the FTSE 100 on pressure to move to the US. The FTSE 250 got a boost from takeover talks for both Hipgnosis Songs Fund and Tyman.The FTSE 100 inde

Stock prices in London improved at the open on Monday, with FTSE 250 stocks Hipgnosis and Tyman rising on news of prospective takeovers for both firms, while investors more widely shook off nerves ahead of a key US inflation reading later this week.The FTSE 100 index opened up 96.75 points, 1.2%, at 7,992.60. The FTSE 250 was up 152.32 points, 0.8%, at 19,543.62, and the AIM All-Share was up 3.13

After a strong post-lockdown rebound, soft drink and mixer maker Britvic (BVIC) seems to have well and truly lost its fizz over the last year with the shares slumping to 12-month lows last week.Quite why the market has soured on the £2 billion market-cap firm isn?t obvious, given it has an enviable portfolio of brands including Fruit Shoot, J2O, Robinsons and Tango as well as making Pepsi and 7UP

Nelson Peltz?s failure to get a seat on the board of directors at Disney (DIS:NYSE) has raised the question: are activist investors losing their touch?Peltz might have enjoyed success with earlier campaigns at Kraft Heinz (KHC:NASDAQ) and Wendy?s (WEN:NASDAQ), yet he sits alongside big names such as Pershing Square?s (PSH) Bill Ackman where campaigns have not gone their way.Peltz wanted to shake u

Microsoft (MSFT:NASDAQ)-backed cybersecurity firm Rubrik (RBRK:NYSE) plans to raise up to $750 million as it becomes the latest company to unveil plans for an IPO (initial public offering) in the US. The roster of companies planning to go public is starting to fill out after two years of relative drought following recent successes by social media platform Reddit (RDDT:NYSE) and semiconductor conn

The prospect of a new British ISA has put the spotlight on the UK market. Some investors will not feel comfortable picking individual shares and an alternative is to look at actively managed funds and investment trusts. Here are some tips on putting together a UK-focused portfolio. WHICH FUNDS AND TRUSTS WILL QUALIFY FOR INCLUSION IN THE BRITISH ISA? The rules for which investments can qualify for

Stocks in London were lower on Wednesday midday, as investor sentiment suffered with a persistently resilient US economy dampening expectations that US interest rates cuts will come sooner rather than later.The FTSE 100 index was down 30.55 points, 0.4%, at 7,904.54. The FTSE 250 was down 35.35 points, 0.2%, at 19,678.54, and the AIM All-Share was down 0.62 of a point, 0.1%, at 741.78.The Cboe UK

Shareholders in retail bellwether Next (NXT) were breaking out the champagne after the stock price hit a new lifetime high on the release of forecast-beating results for the year to January (21 March).Full-price sales rose a better-than-expected 4%, with growth driven by strong online trading, suggesting the retailer?s offering continues to resonate with shoppers.Chief executive Simon Wolfson open

The world of fantasy is clearly having a moment. The rise of ?romantasy? authors like Sarah J Maas, who has been a big part of UK publishing outfit Bloomsbury?s (BMY) recent success, have taken the genre out of its previous male-dominated realm to a whole new audience.Bloomsbury?s surging sales and the ongoing phenomenon that is Games Workshop (GAW) are two examples on the UK market which show the

Record profits deliveredFY25 guidance reiteratedOverseas developments exciteShares in Next (NXT) rallied 5.4% to an all-time high of £89.66 on Thursday after the fashion and homeware retailer reported forecast-beating results for the year to January 2024 and reiterated its full year 2025 guidance.Investors? spirits were buoyed by comments from chief executive Simon Wolfson, described as a ?retail

Oil prices recently hit a four-month high with Brent crude topping $86 per barrel after US inventories came in lower than expected and amid reports of attacks on Russian facilities.Yet the FTSE 350 Oil & Gas Producers sector is pretty much flat, like the wider UK market. In the US, energy stocks are underperforming the S&P 500 with a 7.4% gain against 9.4% for the wider market.Writing in mid-March

At a huge indoor concert venue in Silicon Valley on 18 March Nvidia (NVDA:NASDAQ) founder and chief executive Jensen Huang took the stage to a score composed entirely by AI (artificial intelligence) to introduce his company?s latest creation. Assembled at the developer conference were researchers and experts from just about every field which uses Nvidia?s chips to process large data sets, from cli

This column is being written just before the next meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee on 20 March and the working premise is that chair Jay Powell and his colleagues at the US Federal Reserve will leave the headline interest rate unchanged at 5.50%. If that does not turn out to the case then readers can immediately turn over the page, not least to spare the writer?s blushes.That caveat as

The FTSE 100 was lower on Wednesday at midday despite UK inflation cooling more than expected, ahead of interest rate decisions in the US on Wednesday and in the UK on Thursday.Stocks in Paris were weighed down by a disappoint profit warning from Kering, which also had an impact on Burberry in London. Prudential shares sunk on the back of its results.The FTSE 100 index was down 9.75 points, 0.1%,

THIS IS AN ADVERTISING FEATURE Imran Sattar, Portfolio Manager of Edinburgh Investment Trust, and Emily Barnard, Deputy Portfolio Manager, take a flexible investment approach because investment styles come in and out of fashion, with economic and market cycles impacting them positively and negatively. They seek to find companies that can grow profits and dividends over the next three to five year