Equities in London went into Wednesday afternoon in largely negative territory, though peers in Europe were in the green and equities in New York are called higher.Nonetheless, there was still some trepidation in the air ahead of a US inflation reading on Friday.Some of the FTSE 100?s heavyweights weighed on the index. Shell and BP fell 1.3% and 1.5% as Brent prices fell. HSBC lost 1.7% after Barc

London-listed stocks delivered a mixed performance on Monday in a big week for economic data, as the market prepared for Tuesday?s US inflation reading.The FTSE 100 index closed down 9.49 points, 0.1%, at 7,669.23. The FTSE 250 ended down 71.69 points, 0.4%, at 19,530.09, and the AIM All-Share closed down 2.29 points, 0.3%, at 738.27.The Cboe UK 100 ended up 0.1% at 767.93, the Cboe UK 250 closed

Stock prices in London opened in the red on Monday, despite a favourable inflation reading from China, as investors nervously await Tuesday?s US data.While a hotter-than-forecast Chinese consumer price index print reassured, stock market investors will be hoping the US data shows inflation is cooling, however.The FTSE 100 index fell 3.85 points, 0.1%, to 7,655.89. The FTSE 250 was down only 9.60 p

Can investors expect slumping stocks to bounce back? The obvious answer to this question is, it depends which stocks, and why they slumped. Share prices fall for many reasons. Some remain unloved, cast aside by equity markets like sodden paper bags. Others recover, fixing perceived problems and re-emerging from the equities' emergency room.Digging around the debris of past disasters is what so-cal

Global equities were largely on the up at the end of the week, negotiating a trio of major central bank decisions, with one more to come on Thursday, as the corporate earnings season continues.It was a bullish open in New York, while the FTSE 100 squeezed out the most minor of gains, comfortably outperformed by its European peers.It was a decent day for London listing banking shares. A Standard Ch

Stocks in London were mixed at midday on Friday, after a busy earnings week and data showing an annual decline in UK house sales for June.The FTSE 100 index was up 4.58 points, 0.1%, at 7,697.34. The FTSE 250 was down 130.44 points, 0.7%, at 19,142.93, and the AIM All-Share was down 2.67 points, 0.4%, at 766.62.The Cboe UK 100 was down marginally at 767.84, the Cboe UK 250 was down 0.8% at 16,804.

The FTSE 100 was in the green on Friday amid mostly strong company earnings, following the week's three major central bank decisions.The FTSE 100 index opened up 21.41 points, 0.3%, at 7,714.17. The FTSE 250 was down 90.04 points, 0.5%, at 19,183.33, and the AIM All-Share was down 1.13 points, 0.2%, at 768.16.The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.1%, the Cboe UK 250 was down 0.5% at 16,860.93, and the Cboe Sma

Rising interest rates are normally good for banks so investors may be puzzled why FTSE 250 lender Vanquis Banking (VANQ) has plunged nearly 20% in six weeks to 183.6p, putting the company firmly in relegation territory from the mid-cap index.The business, previously called Provident Financial, is trying to change its spots, shifting away from higher-risk, poor credit borrowers to a more mainstream

The mortgage market is in a state of turmoil, as deals are being regularly withdrawn and replaced with contracts carrying more punitive interest rates.This has been driven by the Bank of England tightening monetary policy, but also more recently some bad inflationary data which has caused the market to raise its expectations for future interest rates. Unfortunately, even if those expectations don'

Cooling inflation on the continent, weaker US data and another day without any banking sector scares lifted stocks in London on Thursday.Blue-chip European shares remain off where they were on March 9, the day before equities suffered a melt-down following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank. Markets are making a stellar recovery as the month draws to a close, however.Riskier assets were on the up

Stocks finished higher in London on Thursday, as evidence of better-than-expected growth for the US economy offered hope against the threat of an impending recession.The FTSE 100 index closed up 16.24 points, or 0.2% at 7,761.11 on Thursday. The FTSE 250 ended up 111.47 points, or 0.6%, at 19,915.51. The AIM All-Share closed up 4.63 points, or 0.5%, at 865.41.The Cboe UK 100 ended up 0.2% at 775.9

An indication that China is finally winning its battle against Covid-19 gave stock markets a lift on Thursday, while private equity investor 3i led the FTSE 100 after reporting a strong rise in net asset value.The London large-cap index opened up 19.81 points, 0.3%, at 7,764.68. The FTSE 250 was up 124.66 points, 0.6%, at 19,928.70, and the AIM All-Share was up 4.07 points, 0.5%, at 864.85.The Cbo

Shares in sub-prime lender Provident Financial (PFG) collapsed 29% to 186p after the firm revealed it may have to put its Customer Collected Credit Division (CCD) into administration due to the high level of customer complaints it had received.The firm's preferred solution is to pursue a Scheme of Arrangement 'in relation to potential redress claims' arising from customer credit-worthiness complai

Shares in sub-prime credit provider Provident Financial (PFC) leapt 14% to 224p after it posted first half results which were far from pretty but still better than management had forecast.The group, whose 2.2 million customers typically struggle to obtain credit from mainstream lenders, recorded a pre-tax loss of £28 million in the six months to June compared with a profit of £43.1 million a yea

Demand is increasing for cash savings accounts as more people become fearful about investment markets. People are also worried about tough financial times ahead and are building up their emergency cash pots in case they need to dip into them in the future.While it might not seem worthwhile to switch your cash account, it's often easy to do and if you're earning a very low interest rate or have a l

Demand is increasing for cash savings accounts as more people become fearful about investment markets. People are also worried about tough financial times ahead and are building up their emergency cash pots in case they need to dip into them in the future.While it might not seem worthwhile to switch your cash account, it's often easy to do and if you're earning a very low interest rate or have a l

UK stock markets stayed virtually flat at the start of a relatively quiet Wednesday with investors having relatively thin corporate news to provide direction and eyes firmly being fixed on the imminent signing of an initial US-China trade deal.US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said tariffs on Chinese goods would not be repealed until the completion of a Phase 2 agreement, planting some doubt in

At 502.6p shares in sub-prime lender Provident Financial (PFG) may be in recovery mode after it successfully fought off a hostile takeover by smaller rival Non-Standard Finance (NSF) but there are several reasons why investors should not get carried away.Non-Standard is walking away having failed to secure the regulators' approval for the deal. However, there remain question marks over Provident's

Following a stunning boardroom coup (2 Apr), clothing entrepreneur Julian Dunkerton has returned to Superdry (SDRY). However, market confidence in the prospects of a turnaround remains low, with the shares having been notably weak since Dunkerton's narrow victory.We expect that many of the big investors who voted against the board change are now giving up and selling out of the stock which may ta

Investors have a couple of interesting takeovers to concentrate on in early trade on Friday as lender Provident Financial (PFG) and Cathedral City cheese maker Dairy Crest (DCG) recommend bids to shareholders.Provident, the £1.3bn business behind Vanquis credit cards, accepts a £1.3bn offer tabled subprime lending peer Non-Standard Finance (NSF). Interestingly, NSF was founded in 2014 by John va