Stocks in Europe had a weak start on Friday, as the threat of more Middle East sabre-rattling and doubt of US interest rate cut timing damaged investor morale.Perhaps in a sign of the times, BAE Systems was among only a handful of large-caps in London to trade higher.A red-hot US jobs report could damage sentiment further later. The data is reported at 1330 BST.The FTSE 100 index opened down 73.44

No-one could accuse the CMA (Competition and Markets Authority) of sitting on its hands, least of all this year.As well as investigating several high-profile mergers ? including this month alone Aviva (AV.)/AIG Life, SpreadEx/Sporting Image, RedBird IMI/Telegraph Media Group, Pharmacy2U/Lloyds Direct and Hitachi/Thales ? the regulator has been busy looking into pricing in the funeral market (again

Conflict is always an unhappy subject, but it remains an area of real focus across the globe. Cross-border collisions of ideology, hegemony, raw materials, and even survival, mean national budgets reach astronomical levels, especially in the US, by far the world's largest military spender.In 2022, global military budgets hit an all-time high of $2.2 trillion, according to data released by the Stoc

Instability in Russia threatened to cause a heavy sell-off in global equities, though that did not materialise on Monday, as major stock market benchmarks largely kept their poise.It was still a less-than-stellar for session, however, with the FTSE 100 in London and DAX 40 in Frankfurt closing just below breakeven. It was a similar story early in New York. The CAC 40 in Paris outperformed, however

AdmiralInvestors are hoping the insurer doesn't deliver the scale of bad news served up by Direct LineOver the past year, a nasty profit warning by Direct Line (DLG), the cancellation of its dividend and suspension of a share buyback programme have put the shivers into anyone holding shares in the general insurance sector. The company was hit by a rise in claims and an increase in costs associated

For now, the escalating conflict in Ukraine shows no signs of easing. After the initial shock, markets were hopeful the economic impact of the war might be contained as the West's opening salvo of sanctions in response to Russia's invasion (24 Feb) were weaker than some had anticipated.However, any relief soon dissipated as Ukraine put up stiff resistance against the Russian invaders and sanctions

It was a mixed day for London stocks on Monday, as several blue chips with links to Russia remain as pariahs in the ongoing Ukraine invasion, while the FTSE 250 rose on M&A activity featuring Oxford Investments and Spectris.Elsewhere, the prospect of chunkier government defence spending lifted the likes of BAE Systems in London and Thales over in Paris.The FTSE 100 index closed down 31.21 points,

UK stocks closed in positive territory on Friday, capping a strong 5% rebound from the previous week. The monthly jobs report from the US showed a strengthened labour market with jobs increasing by 638,000 in October, above the 580,000 estimate complied by economists.Meanwhile Joe Biden was tantalisingly close to being crowned the 46th President of the US.At 4:35pm the FTSE 100 index was a smidgen

UK stocks drifted lower on Friday lunchtime as investors took profits after gains four straight days of gains propelling the FTSE 100 up 5% over the week.Meanwhile in the US Joe Biden's Democrats were just six Electoral College seats short of outright victory. Investors await the US monthly Non-Farm Payrolls report for October later with expectations of around 600,000 new jobs being created, fewer

UK and European gave back ground on Friday after a strong week for risk assets as investors began to focus on the state of the global economy and the prospect of central bank stimulus.Away from the election, eyes were turned towards the US non-farm payrolls and unemployment data due out later today.The FTSE 100 index traded down 22 points or 0.4% to 5,884 points with gains in financial stocks offs

London stock markets chalked-up the worst weekly performance since the 2008 financial crisis despite clawing back a fraction of lost territory in Friday trading as earlier strength flagged.The benchmark FTSE 100 index closed 2.5% up at 5,366.11 on Friday, cementing a near 18% weekly loss, the biggest since a 21% drop in October 2008. That slump made it the third week running of heavy declines as f

UK markets staged a firm rally in early trading on Monday, following Asian markets higher and clawing back some of the heavy losses chalked-up last week.At 9am, the benchmark FTSE 100 index was up close on 2.7% at 6,756.35, while the mid cap FTSE 250 is also around 2.5% higher at 19,803.06.However, by midday those gains had been entirely wiped out with the FTSE 100 dipping 0.5% to 6,546.61. The FT

A consortium led by aerospace and defence firm Babcock International (BAB) has been chosen by the Government as the preferred bidder for the £1.25bn contract to build the UK's new fleet of navy war ships.The Type 31 general-purpose frigate programme would provide the UK with a fleet of five ships, at an average production cost of £250m per ship, the company said.The news saw investors rally roun

The FTSE 100 opens up 27 points to 7,584 despite fears of a rising pound's impact on the index's constituents. The Bank of England's decision to keep interest rates the same yesterday was widely priced in by the market despite some hawkish tones from certain members of the Monetary Policy Committee.Asset manager River & Mercantile (RIV) gains 2p to 280p after opening a new office in Australia to c

A mistake investors frequently repeat is chasing in-vogue, go-go-growth shares and shunning the 'steady eddies' of the stock market.It is easy to understand how electric car maker Tesla captures the imagination, even as it burns through cash, while online fashion retailers including Amazon and ASOS (ASC:AIM) may be disrupting industries and grabbing market share, but their gravity-defying ratings

Oil services minnow Thalassa (THAL:AIM) is shelving plans to sell its marine seismic subsidiary WGP Group after it determined third party proposals did not provide shareholders with sufficient value.Noting a gap between its market value and what it sees as the intrinsic value of its assets, the business is upping its share buyback programme from £2m to £4m.

The FTSE 100 reached a new high this morning, hitting 7598.99 at one point. The fall in sterling is helping companies deriving their income largely from abroad. Strong economic data coming out of the US is also aiding global stocks and virtually all markets are trading higher.Project management firm WYG (WYG:AIM) enjoys a 10.3% share price rise to 105p as it announces a new contract win. The compa

The FTSE 100 ticks through the 7,000 mark after rising strongly yesterday afternoon on sterling weakness.Pest control firm Rentokil (RTO) advances 7.9% to 228p as the market gives a nod of approval to a joint venture with German peer Haniel for its workwear and hygiene units. Under the terms of the agreement Rentokil will bank an initial €520m and will have an 18% stake in the JV.Specialist t

Marine seismic specialist Thalassa (THAL:AIM) has increased guidance for full year revenue and pre-tax profit from $10.5m to $13.9m and from $1.1m to $1.6m respectively. This is thanks to $2m of late data sales (10 Oct) and strong cost control. The company says profit could be boosted by a further $1.5m if its 'very conservative' provisions for increased costs prove too conservative. (TS)

Marine seismic specialist Thalassa (THAL:AIM) gains 17.3% to 44.6p as it ups 2016 revenue and profit guidance for its WGP Group subsidiary and says there could be further upgrades to come.Thalassa is a holding group for two businesses - WGP is its core operation and sits alongside an autonomous underwater vessel venture, Autonomous Robotics.WGP's portable modular source (PMSS) equipment is install