Shares in JD Sports Fashion (JD.) jumped 3.2% higher to an all-time high of 943p after the trainers-to-tracksuits seller resumed dividends and forecast higher profits for the year ahead, drawing confidence from the opening up of physical retail in the UK and the broader easing of Covid restrictions around the world. To cope with booming online sales, and the challenges of Brexit, the ...

Shares in engineering and defence company Babcock (BAB) climbed as much as 34% to 325p after the firm announced it would streamline its business and in the process take £1.7 billion of non-cash writedowns, but doesn’t need to tap shareholders for cash. NO CAPITAL RAISE Considering the shares were marked down sharply last Friday on press talk of writedowns reaching £700 million, today’s ...

Shares in online food delivery platform Just Eat Takeaway.com (JET) gained 2.7% to £75.52 after it reported a 79% surge in orders for the first quarter of this year, led by strong demand in the UK. The company processed 200 million orders overall in the first quarter of 2021, and the UK was the fastest-growing segment and the company’s main growth driver, with orders in its delivery business ...

Shares in recruitment firm Hays (HAS) jumped 4.6% to 167p on Tuesday after the company issued its third quarter trading update earlier than scheduled, raising its full year earnings forecast in the process. IMPROVING TREND Although the third quarter continued to be impacted by the pandemic, with group net fee income falling 10% on the previous year on a like-for-like basis, momentum ...

UK shares opened slightly lower on Tuesday after February GDP moved back to growth of 0.4%, positive but below economists’ expectations. Trading in Asia was mixed after Chinese exports grew at a record pace in March, with the Shanghai Composite down 0.5% while the Nikkei 225 was 0.7% higher. Brent Crude prices were 0.6% higher at $63.7 a barrel while Gold was Gold was 0.3% lower at $1,727 ...

UK stocks ended Monday’s session in the red as the reopening of shops and pubs across the UK failed to generate much of a market reaction. Caution prevailed as many investors decided to hold off on any big decisions as first quarter earnings season picks up pace in the US. ‘UK markets have remained pretty subdued as they seemed to have priced in today’s lockdown easing ...

UK stocks were ever slightly lower by lunchtime on Monday, even as local restaurants, bars and other non-essential businesses began to reopen, with sentiment uncertain amid global jitters over rising bond yields and lofty stock valuations. By lunchtime, London’s blue chip benchmark index was off 22 points or 0.31%, at 6,894.2, with high street names weakening on reopening day as investors ...

British cyber security software company Darktrace has confirmed long-mooted plans to list shares on the London stock market, a timely boost for UK technology investors after the disappointing IPO (initial public offering) of Deliveroo (ROO) recently. While there’s still no official word on pricing, latest market speculation points to a £3 billion enterprise value target, which would ...

Shares in freight management firm Xpediator (XPD:AIM) rose as much as 11% in early trading to 63p after the company reported solid results for 2020 and said activity in the first quarter of 2021 had exceeded management expectations. Turnover rose 3.7% last year to £221.3 million although that performance belies a pandemic-affected first half followed by a stronger than expected pick-up in the ...

Shares in egg-free cakes seller Cake Box (CBOX:AIM) jumped 5.5% to an all-time high of 268p on Monday after the company defied lockdown difficulties to confirm a big jump in sales last year. The £113 million company said it expected to report a 16% jump in full-year revenues to a record £21.7 million for the year 31 March 2021. That would be around 10% higher than consensus expectations of ...