Stock prices were in the green on Wednesday morning amid optimism that the Federal Reserve in the US might cut interest rates in the future.In the UK, it is the day before election day. Polls have seen Keir Starmer's Labour party take the lead as the Conservatives slip.The FTSE 100 index opened up 42.55 points, 0.5%, at 8,163.75. The FTSE 250 was up 99.58 points, 0.5%, at 20,294.05, and the...

FTSE 250 midcap stocks open lower by almost 1% after a profit warning from economic bellwether Clarkson (CKN).The shipping services outfit trades 20% lower at £17.53 as it reports its Clarksea Index, which measures global shipping activity, was 30% lower in the first half of 2016 compared to a year earlier.As a result, profit at Clarkson will be 'materially lower' in its 2016 financial year,...

Do you see anything odd in the accompanying table? It shows the five best performing stocks in the FTSE 100 on 4 February 2016. All five stocks are mining companies and they've recorded between 10% and 20% share price gains in a single day.To the casual observer, the performance figures may imply the start of a recovery in the mining sector. I do not believe this is true as there is no...

UK shares begin the last week's run into Christmas on a firm footing, with miners a particularly strong feature thanks to firmer metals prices. The FTSE 100 index rallies 55 points, or about 0.9%, to 6,108, although gains for midcaps and smaller companies are less eye-catching. Wall Street fell overnight Friday while Asia remains mixed this morning, with Europe's main markets also mildly...

London shares head lower in early trade on Wednesday as traders took the opportunity to book profits from yesterday's heady trade. The FTSE 100 is down 28 points at 6,240.E&P Soco International (SIA) falls 18% to 146p as it reports production from its H5 platform on the Te Giac Trang field in Vietnam is slightly below expectations and warns future cash returns to shareholders will be dependent...

London shares shake-off early gains to slump badly despite market hopes of a boost from economic policy in China. The benchmark FTSE 100 index tumbles 55 points, or roughly 0.47%, to 7,051 as fears spread across the market about the UK's economic health after weaker than expected GDP growth of just 0.3% in the first quarter. Economists had been anticipating 0.5% growth.In corporate news,...