Shares in Associated British Foods (ABF) were the biggest FTSE 100 risers on Thursday, marked up 4.9% to £23.25 as the foods-to-fashion conglomerate raised annual profit guidance amid an improved outlook for Primark and its sugar division. Following an encouraging sales performance by Primark since stores reopened, the conglomerate has upgraded its full year sales forecast for the cut-price ...

The FTSE 100 made a decent start to the second half as the market awaits UK manufacturing data and unemployment figures from the EU. At 9am the FTSE 100 was up 1.1% at 7,119 led by consumer stocks and house builders. COMPANY NEWS Primark owner AB Foods (ABF) raised its guidance for full year pre-tax earnings to 'not less than £550 million' against market estimates of £525 ...

UK stocks continued their positive run on Tuesday after official figures showed payrolls surged by almost 200,000 in April, the fourth consecutive monthly rise and the biggest rise on record, as companies rushed to hire. The headline jobless rate fell to 4.7%, the lowest since last August, as firms chased workers and the government was able to reduce furlough payments. At the peak last May, the ...

London’s FTSE 100 finished Tuesday’s session down 2% at 6,859.87 as stronger sterling and resurgent concerns about the course of the global Covid-19 pandemic weighed on investor sentiment, while tobacco stocks remained weak amid reports of US regulatory pressure. On Wall Street the S&P 500 was down 0.9% at 4,128.07 by 4.30pm UK time. TOBACCO STOCKS TUMBLE Shares in British American ...

UK stocks continued to slide on Tuesday following some mixed company updates and modest profit-taking after the big gains of last week, with weakness also reflecting the pound’s continued rise on UK recovery hopes and share price declines for London’s two tobacco firms. By midday, the FTSE 100 was down 1.1% at 6,923.5 points while the FTSE 250 was off 0.7% at 22,339. TOBACCO STOCKS ...

Shares in Primark owner Associated British Foods (ABF) cheapened 2.2% to £24.07 on Tuesday despite the fashion-to-foods conglomerate surprising investors with a return to the dividend list and flagging record sales for its discount fashion chain over the past week. While Primark enjoyed a stunning reopening last week, Associated British Foods ‘continues to expect the profit for Primark to ...

The FTSE 100 dipped back below 7,000 in early trading on Tuesday following some mixed company updates and modest profit taking after the big gains of last week. The UK’s benchmark index fell 0.2% to 6,986.18, taking its cue from Wall Street where stocks also fell overnight, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq dropping 1% and even the Dow Jones falling 0.3% as banks, energy firms and consumer-facing ...

Shares in key retailers were marked down on Monday despite optimism as ‘non-essential’ shops opened their doors for the first time in months. Retailers are hopeful of high footfall and are welcoming longer opening hours, yet share prices had already risen to discount today’s grand reopening and investors are watching to see if consumers will eagerly return to brick and mortar shops or ...

According to the Government’s latest ‘roadmap’, non-essential stores in England can reopen from 12 April. This includes clothes shops, book shops, department stores (remember those?), mobile phone shops, betting shops, car dealerships and shops such as florists and hairdressers. Face masks and social distancing will still be necessary, but for a good proportion of the population the ...

London’s FTSE 100 closed down 0.1% at 6,651.96 on Thursday, giving up earlier gains as a weak open on Wall Street unnerved investors. The S&P 500 was trading 0.9% lower at 3,889.41 as at 4.30pm UK time as strong durable goods orders helped stoke inflation fears. There was also some renewed signs of the Reddit-inspired volatility from January as the heavily shorted Texan computer games ...

London’s FTSE 100 was up 0.3% at 6,676.89 points by midday on Thursday, albeit off its high point for the day, with gains for the blue chip benchmark underpinned by strength in the oil and gas sector amid oil price strength on a busy day for corporate news. Mining companies rose on robust results from Anglo American (AAL), thanks to rising demand and tight supply, and talk of mergers and ...

Shares in Associated British Foods (ABF) firmed 0.7% to £24.55 as the diversified foods-to-fashion conglomerate reported a resilient first half performance from Primark for the periods when its shops were open, as well as forecast-beating showings from its grocery, sugar, agriculture and ingredients businesses. However, the FTSE 100 firm also warned that store closures have cost its Primark ...

UK stocks built on their previous day’s gains as mining companies rose on robust results from Anglo American (AAL), thanks to rising demand and tight supply, and talk of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) resurfaced. The FTSE 100 index of leading stocks added 18 points or 0.3% to 6,677 led by mining and packaging shares, while banks and house builders gave up some ground. The pound climbed ...

The FTSE 100 was enduring a bumpy ride on Wednesday, reversing morning declines to post modest gains at lunchtime. Fears of a return of meaningful inflation pushing interest rates higher and the strong pound hitting exporters acting as a drag during the early session wore thin as optimism gathered on hopes that tourists may be able to head off on holidays if the lockdown restrictions are eased ...

Speculation that non-essential retailers won’t be able to reopen in England until late April has cast a dark cloud over shares in the sector. Shares in Next (NXT), JD Sports (JD.) and Dunelm (DNLM) were all weak ahead of Prime Minister Boris Johnson announcing his roadmap for coming out of lockdown. Some investors had expected shops to reopen in the first wave of the reopening ...

Despite all the upheaval of the past year, anyone glancing at the financial markets today might find it hard to believe investors were in the throes of despair 12 months ago. Following the global markets crash in February 2020, the recovery has been spectacular. The US Nasdaq 100 and S&P 500 indices are at all-time highs, Japan’s Nikkei index is at a multi-decade high, China’s Shanghai ...

UK stocks rose sharply throughout morning trading on what has been dubbed ‘Super Thursday’ as a number of high-profile companies updated the market, with Christmas results revealing lockdown’s winners and losers. At around 12.15, the UK’s benchmark FTSE 100 gained 0.7% to 6,792.66 while the midcap FTSE 250 was up 0.84% to 20,789.48. CORPORATE NEWS Supermarket Tesco (TSCO) dipped ...

UK stocks moved slightly higher on Thursday despite ongoing concerns about rising Covid-19 cases across the world. At 08:40 the FTSE 100 index of leading shares was 0.3% higher at 6,770 points. In overnight Asian trading the Japanese Nikkei 225 index gained 0.9% while the Chinese SE Composite index lost 0.9%. Brent Crude prices nudged up 0.4% to $53.2 a barrel and Gold prices were ...

We are championing UK stocks despite the introduction of the latest lockdown measures. For more than four years London-listed shares have trailed in the wake of nearly all other major global markets, but the early Christmas present of a Brexit deal should end much of the uncertainty which led to this underperformance. We are already seeing a dramatic reversal in fortunes with the FTSE 100 going ...

Boss of online pet care and veterinary services firm Pets at Home (PETS) cashed in over £5 million worth of shares last week, having already passed go and collected more than £34,000 of interim dividends at the start of this month. Over a period of three days last week chief executive Peter Pritchard sold around 1.27 million ordinary shares at an average price of 383.98p, raising a total of ...