UK stocks tracked sideways in early trading on Wednesday as investors awaited an update from the Federal Reserve about the outlook for the US economy. At 8.39, the FTSE 100 was ever so slightly lower, off 0.15% at 6,096.30 points. E-commerce company The Hut (THG), the Manchester-based owner of the Lookfantastic website, surged 27% higher to 635p, having priced its IPO at 500p, as conditional ...

The UK’s leading stocks rallied through the late morning session on Tuesday as investors were lifted by positive earnings reports and the recent spate of takeover deals. In total the value of global merger and acquisition (M&A) deals this month is approaching $150 billion, the highest level in almost a year, suggesting companies are becoming more confident in their outlook. The benchmark ...

Shares in property, casualty and London market insurer Hiscox (HSX) climbed as much as 20% to 915p after it appeared that its costs for business interruption (BI) claims would be less than feared and it posted a ‘resilient’ performance in the third quarter to date. Along with seven other insurers, Hiscox had been waiting on a High Court judgement in the UK insurance industry test case ...

Shares in embattled bus and rail company FirstGroup (FGP) jumped over 6% to 43.5p after saying it expects to deliver a small first-half profit, having reported stronger-than-expected performance in the four months through August. In an AGM trading update, the company said it’s now expecting to deliver a small adjusted operating profit for the seasonally weaker first half of the financial ...

Specialist pharmaceutical company Diurnal (DIU:AIM), which targets patients with chronic hormonal diseases, reported strong growth in revenues to £6.3 million for the 12 months ended 30 June 2020, pushing the shares 4.5% higher to 59p. The company has developed and commercialised Alkindi, a drug aimed at children suffering from cortisol deficiency. Cortisol is a steroid hormone that helps ...

Wind and solar assets investor Octopus Renewables Infrastructure Trust (ORIT) reported a ‘very strong’ total shareholder return for the seven and a half months since its incorporation in mid-October, even after the pandemic-induced economic slump drove a material fall in power prices. Furthermore, ORIT insisted it is pursuing a renewable energy assets pipeline of ‘around £3.8 ...

Signs of improving momentum in the business and guidance suggesting the company could return to the dividend list at the full year stage helped lift piping systems manufacturer Polypipe (PLP) 7% to 436.5p. The company posted a steep drop in first-half profit and scrapped its interim dividend citing softer trading amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Pre-tax profit for the six months through June ...

Online grocery delivery firm Ocado (OCDO) served up three lots of good news on Tuesday with accelerating sales growth in the third quarter, a better than expected take-up of Marks & Spencer (MKS) products on its retail platform and an increase in full year earnings guidance. Shares jumped 5.5% to £24.83 to top the FTSE 100 leader board. In the 13 weeks to 30 August, retail revenue rose ...

UK stocks opened higher on Tuesday lifted by positive earnings reports and the recent spate of takeover deals. In total the value of global merger and acquisition (M&A) deals this month is approaching $150bn, the best level in almost a year, suggesting companies are becoming more confident in their outlook. On the currency markets the pound resumed its upward trend against the dollar ...

UK stocks closed slightly lower on Monday, despite positive Covid-19 vaccine news over the weekend from AstraZeneca (AZN) and Pfizer. At 16:30, the benchmark FTSE 100 index was down 0.1%, at 6,032. Pfizer chief executive Albert Bourla said on Sunday that the US company's Covid-19 vaccine could be distributed to Americans before the end of the year. AstraZeneca, meanwhile, announced it had ...