It is easy to fall for the lure of technology stocks. There’s enormous scalability, whizzy gadgets and services, and the promise of hefty share price gains to be had. Who doesn’t want to own a piece of the future? Maybe that’s why the Nasdaq index is now up on the year, whereas every other major global equity index is still very much stuck in a coronavirus fix. Since the start of 2020 the ...

Shares in budget airline Ryanair (RYA) soared 9.5% to €9.25 after its full year results showed it has gone into the coronavirus crisis on the back of big rises in revenue and profit. In its full year results to 31 March, Ryanair reported a 13% jump in profit after tax to €1bn and a 10% increase in revenue to €8.49bn, having flown 4% more passengers with a total of 148.6m during the ...

Oil major Royal Dutch Shell (RDSB) was one of the biggest risers on the FTSE 100 on Monday morning as the recovery in oil prices continued following April’s retreat of US oil prices into negative territory. The company was up 5.4% to £12.39, while BP (BP.) gained 5.5% to 312.8p as US crude oil benchmark WTI traded above $30 per barrel and global yardstick Brent headed in the direction of $34 ...

During April, the number of UK consumers visiting shops collapsed as the economy shut down to stop the spread of the dreaded COVID-19. This is according to a survey from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and retail data outfit ShopperTrak, which found that footfall dropped 84.7% year-on-year with consumers stuck indoors and physical outlets shuttered as retailers focused on their online ...

FTSE surged 2% higher on Monday to 5,932 and oil prices hit a five-week high as countries opening up from lockdown spurred markets higher. Oil and mining shares led the FTSE 100 with Royal Dutch (RDSB) and BP (BP.) around 5% higher. Overnight data from Japan confirmed the world’s third largest economy slipped into recession in the first quarter, but investors focused on the prospect that ...

Embattled equity income fund manager Mark Barnett has left Invesco after 24 years at the company. Barnett, one of the City’s best known investment fund managers, has come under increasing pressure after prolonged underperformance of the UK equity income and growth funds ran by him. In a short statement, Invesco’s chief investment officer Stephanie Butcher explained that following ...

It must be a bit galling for a chief executive to watch the share price go up after stepping down, but that is the reality today for Royal Mail (RMG) chief Rico Back, with the shares rising 6% to 172p. Keith Williams will become interim executive chair while Stuart Simpson becomes interim chief executive. Executive directors will forgo bonuses for the year ended 31 March 2020, and roughly £25m ...

The only investment trust on the FTSE 100, Scottish Mortgage (SMT), is up 2.8% to 693.7p. The move pushed it back above a £10bn valuation, overtaking 3i (III) as the largest fund on the index, as its portfolio recovered quickly from the coronavirus-inspired correction. For the 12 months to 31 March 2020, the company upped its total dividend for the year by 4% to 3.25p per share. Its net ...

Shares in high-flying fast-fashion retailer Boohoo (BOO:AIM) bounced 3.45p higher to 354.75p on Friday following confirmation it had bagged £198m through a placing at 340p. Further strengthening an already formidably strong balance sheet, the fresh funds will be used for fashion brand acquisitions in a retail sector left reeling by the COVID-19 pandemic. FASHIONING FURTHER M&A The ...

The FTSE rallied 1.3% higher to 5,817.74 points on Friday after two days of losses as China reported its first rise in factory output so far in 2020, giving a boost to oil and mining shares. BP (BP.) and Royal Dutch Shell (RDSB) traded almost 2% higher, while Anglo American (AAL) was 4% ahead and Rio Tinto (RIO) was up 3%. The midcap index was also strongly higher, up 1.4% to 15,625.9 ...