UK stocks ended a busy week in reflective mood after a big jump in Covid-19 cases was reported yesterday and European policymakers sounded a cautious note on the economic outlook going into year-end. At the close on Friday the FTSE 100 was down 22 points or 0.4% at 6,316 points. Domestic stocks such as banks and house builders gained while overseas earners including energy stocks fell as the ...

UK stocks retreated on Friday after a big jump in Covid-19 cases was reported yesterday and European policymakers sounded a cautious note on the economic outlook going into year-end. At midday the FTSE 100 was down 27 points or 0.4% at 6,312 points. Domestic stocks such as banks and house builders gained while overseas earners including energy stocks fell as the pound continued to strengthen ...

UK stocks retreated on Friday after a big jump in Covid-19 cases was reported yesterday with the FTSE 100 down 0.6% at 6,300 points. A stronger pound dragged down exporters and weaker oil put pressure on energy stocks. The pound was 0.5% higher against the US dollar at $1.31 and Brent crude prices were 1.4% lower at $40.5 per barrel. Gold prices nudged-up 0.2% to $1.880 an ounce. Overnight ...

Retirement can be a liberating experience as finishing work gives you the freedom to enjoy life, learn new skills and embrace a wide range of hobbies. This can come at a cost as individuals may need to have saved hard through their working lives to ensure they have adequate savings and enough income to fund their desired lifestyle in older age. James from Sussex knows all about this ...

On a quiet day heading into the weekend the FTSE 100 is broadly flat  in early trades at 7,458.48 FTSE 250 support services company Capita (CPI) is down 1.4% to 496.25p after agreeing to pay a further £66m to settle with the FCA over the Connaught Income Series 1 Fund. The fund went into liquidation in 2012 and Capita settled in 2016 for £18.5m. However, the FCA decided that Capita ...

On balance we believe global stock markets will have a good year in 2017 despite plenty of big political events which could cause bouts of volatility. Economic data is positive in the US, Eurozone and China in particular and corporate earnings are forecast to improve over the coming year. Investment bank Morgan Stanley believes the latter point should drive outperformance from value stocks and ...

The car industry is racing ahead thanks to popular credit schemes enabling consumers to get the latest cars at low monthly prices. Car sales in the US hit a record 17.5 million in 2015 and European car sales are improving. Against this backdrop is a wealth of opportunity for UK investors thanks to a plethora of companies on the London Stock Exchange being linked to the automotive ...

A strong track record backed up by a 20% market share in the UK’s castings market – as well as exposure to a solid European commercial vehicle market – are all bullish factors for engineer Castings (CGS) in the years ahead. The kicker for investors is the potential to pick up the stock on a lowly valuation as markets fret about a margin squeeze following what are likely to prove to ...