UK stocks edged lower on Wednesday in line with most European markets despite another positive session in the US overnight and a slightly better than expected domestic inflation print. UK consumer prices for September climbed 3.1% against expectations of a 3.2% rise, briefly easing fears of an early rate rise, although inflation still remains well above the Bank of England’s 2% target ...

With the New Year well underway there have been plenty of news items to catch investors’ attention of late. There was a reminder of the continuing pressures on the airline sector as Ryanair (RYA) and EasyJet (EZJ) landed the market with mixed updates on 18 January and 22 January respectively. Ryanair warned on profit again, lowering guidance from a range of €1.1bn to €1.2bn down to €1bn ...

Despite all the uncertainty created by Brexit the latest reading from the Quoted Companies Alliance/YouGov Small & Mid-Cap Sentiment index suggests most small and medium-sized companies in the UK are optimistic about 2019. Nearly three quarters of the companies surveyed expect to increase the number of employees in the coming 12 months and 47% are looking to raise capital over the same time ...

The FTSE 100 opens in positive trading following a difficult time last week, rising 0.4% to 7,271. In Asia the markets are already revealing a degree of positive sentiment with the Nikkei up 1.2%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng exchange up 0.7% and the Shanghai Composite Index up by 1.2%. In UK corporate news, Primark owner Associated British Foods (SBF) gains 1.5% to £26.85 on a trading ...

We’ve spotted a very interesting company which has quietly got on with the job since joining the stock market last summer. Arena Events (ARE:AIM) boasts high levels of recurring revenue (70%), it trades on an reasonable valuation and has clear potential to lift margins. It also has zero or negative working capital as many projects pay a significant sum upfront. We believe Arena could be a ...