Stock prices in London opened in the green on Thursday, with some positive corporate updates helping lift the FTSE 100, a far cry from the sell-off New York tech shares suffered overnight.The tech sector comes into focus again, with streaming service Netflix, traditionally one of the FAANG stocks alongside Facebook owner Meta, Amazon, Apple and Alphabet, reporting quarterly earnings later.The FTSE

Centamin (CEY) 128.3pGain to date: 31.3%We flagged the appeal of Egyptian gold miner Centamin (CEY) a little over two months ago based on two key factors: operational improvements and exposure to strong gold prices.WHAT?S HAPPENED SINCE WE SAID TO BUY?The recent move higher in gold prices has been extremely helpful as geopolitical tensions in the Middle East escalate and inflationary pressures con

Blue-chip stocks in Europe fell on Tuesday, though oil majors and miners stopped London?s FTSE 100 from suffering a sharper decline.Stocks struggled, but gold was on the rise again, achieving another record high. Defence firms were sold off, meanwhile.The FTSE 100 index ended down 8.68 points, 0.1%, at 7,934.79. The FTSE 250 ended down 91.23 points, 0.5%, at 19,763.35, while the AIM All-Share rose

Oil and gas output upTrading division strongBrent crude back at $90Shares in energy producer BP (BP.) rose 1.8% to a new six-month high of 519p after the firm raised its guidance for upstream production and Brent crude prices extended their recent rally. POSITIVE ON BALANCEBP?s first-quarter guidance was mixed but on balance the market looked to the positives including a stronger upstream p

London?s FTSE 100 traded higher after the opening bell on Thursday, despite some share price pressure on water utilities as woes at Thames Water deepened, while JD Sports led the way among the large-caps.The FTSE 100 index opened up 24.70 points, 0.3%, at 7,956.68. London listed mid-caps, however, lost ground. The FTSE 250 was down 25.52 points, 0.1%, at 19,785.14.The AIM All-Share was down just 0

1. Semiconductors in focus: The semiconductor sector, as represented by the Philadelphia semiconductor index, posted a 10% gain in February. This reflected renewed optimism surrounding artificial intelligence (AI) chips and their associated applications. Asian chipmakers, which are responsible for manufacturing most of these chips, posted similarly strong gains in the month. This blistering pace o

Bottler serves up third year of record profitsMarket share gains, improved marginsBut slower organic growth expected for 2024Coca-Cola HBC (CCH) was the FTSE 100?s best performer in early dealings on Wednesday, shares in the beverages behemoth fizzing 5.5% higher to £23.27 after it served up forecast-beating results for 2023 and delivered a 19.2% dividend hike.Despite a difficult consumer backdro

Equities in London were on the back foot on Wednesday afternoon, as unease in markets continued amid a less favourable US interest rate outlook.It would be a ?mistake? for the US Federal Reserve to start cutting interest rates too soon, despite its recent progress against inflation, a senior Fed official said Tuesday.On Tuesday, Cleveland Fed president Loretta Mester, who is a voting member of the

The FTSE 100 opened lower on Wednesday, although headlines were dominated by the UK property sector.Housebuilder Barratt offered to buy FTSE 250 rival Redrow in a takeover deal, which values Redrow at £2.5 billion, while both cut dividends amid lower first half profit and revenue. Meanwhile, UK house prices rose for the fourth consecutive month, according to fresh data.The FTSE 100 index opened d

London?s FTSE 100 edged lower and its European peers closed off session highs as robust US jobs data may have all but killed any lingering hope that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates next month.The FTSE 100 index closed down 6.62 points, down 0.1%, at 7,615.54. It went into the jobs data on the up, before stock market sentiment soured in the wake.The FTSE 250 ended up 41.48 points, 0.2%,

Stock prices in Europe traded higher on Friday afternoon, after largely bullish US tech earnings overnight, ahead of a key jobs report from the world?s largest economy.In London, airlines and oil majors moved in opposite directions amid peace talks in the Middle East.The FTSE 100 index was up 21.24 points, 0.3%, at 7,643.40. The FTSE 250 was up 191.59 points, 1.0%, at 19,322.75, and the AIM All-Sh

Stock prices in London opened in the green on Friday, as European stocks were boosted by a rally on Wall Street ahead of the key US nonfarm payrolls report later in the day.The FTSE 100 index opened up 39.43 points, 0.5%, at 7,661.59. The FTSE 250 was up 170.25 points, 0.9%, at 19,301.41, and the AIM All-Share was up 2.46 points, 0.3%, at 755.16.The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.6% at 766.55, the Cboe UK 2

Centamin (CEY) 97.7pMarket cap: £1.13 billionA key reason to hold gold in a diversified portfolio is protection against economic and geopolitical uncertainty and there is plenty of both around in 2024. This is helping to sustain prices for the precious metal above $2,000 per ounce.As well as direct exposure to the gold price, investors could consider buying a gold miner where operational progres

Routes suffer due to Israel-Hamas warGTF engine troubles continueShares down 35% over the past yearShares in Wizz Air (WIZZ) were down over 6% to £19.06 in morning trading as the European budget carrier reported a loss for the three months ending 31 December 2023.Its net loss for the period of ?105.4 million compares with a profit of ?33.4 million in the same year-ago period. The airline had to c

It may have started off as an acronym to describe the main emerging markets in the early noughties but Brazil, Russia, India and China have co-opted the term to create an alliance over the last decade or so bringing South Africa into the fold.This BRICS alliance just added new members to the fold in the form of Egypt, Iran, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates.But looking at the perform

European equities were on the up on Monday afternoon, getting some impetus from bullish trade in New York at the end of last week and for now overlooking interest rate worries.Federal Reserve rate cut bets for March have steadily ebbed. The US central bank is now odds-on to hold rates in its March meeting.The FTSE 100 index was up 13.49 points, 0.2%, at 7,475.42. The FTSE 250 was up 146.18 points,

Overall, it has been a mixed year for emerging markets - with the heavy weighting for a lacklustre Chinese market seeing the MSCI Emerging Markets index creeping just 1.8% higher as we write against a 17.4% advance for the MSCI World developed markets index (both in dollar terms).However, within that overall picture some markets have performed extremely well. Egypt's stock market hit record highs

The FTSE 100 in London was lower at midday on Thursday, in spite of a boost from oil stocks, as markets went silent across the pond in the US for Thanksgiving.The FTSE 100 index was down 10.71 points, 0.1%, at 7,458.80. The FTSE 250 was down 105.80 points, 0.6%, at 18,374.37, and the AIM All-Share was down 0.55 of a point, 0.1%, at 716.35.The Cboe UK 100 was down 0.1% at 744.43, the Cboe UK 250 wa

Stocks in London opened on the back foot on Monday, as investors kept a watchful eye on developments in the Middle East.The FTSE 100 index opened down 24.47 points, 0.3%, at 7,377.67. The FTSE 250 was down 37.88 points, 0.2%, at 16,994.85, and the AIM All-Share was down 2.22 points, 0.3%, at 680.71.The Cboe UK 100 was down 0.3% at 736.34, the Cboe UK 250 was down 0.4% at 14,719.69, and the Cboe Sm

Stock prices in London closed firmly in the red on Thursday, as markets nervously eyed flaring tensions in the Middle East and the prospect of interest rates staying higher for longer in the world's largest economy.The FTSE 100 index closed down 88.47 points, 1.2%, at 7,499.53. The FTSE 250 ended down 190.32 points, 1.1%, at 17,213.14, and the AIM All-Share closed down 1.56 points, 0.2%, at 683.24