It?s been a busy month in small-cap land with good news, bad news and downright weird news for investors to digest.First the good news, as the persistent undervaluation of UK companies ? and small caps in particular ? draws increasing numbers of corporate buyers.Financial services software provider Gresham Technologies (GHT) agreed a 163p per share cash offer from funds managed or advised by STG P

We might have thought we'd seen it all after 2020 but it's been quite a year in 2021 too with an impressive rebound for the markets from the ravages of the pandemic.But which stocks have done best? Read on to discover the top performers up and down the market cap spectrum and find out why they've done so well. For the purposes of this article we've deliberately excluded investment trusts.£4 billi

London's FTSE 100 finished Friday's trading session broadly flat, off a mere 0.03% at 7,123.27 points, despite a stronger than expected jobs report in the US which confirmed that the world's biggest economy continues to heal at a steady clip.The FTSE 250 closed 0.6% to the good at 22,747 points.AJ Bell financial analyst Danni Hewson said the slightly less celebratory mood in London might be due to

London's FTSE 100 was up 0.23% at 7,141.32 by noon on Friday, the blue chip benchmark nudging higher with miners and pharmaceutical stocks leading the way, although traders keeping their powder dry ahead of the latest US employment data.Yet concerns over a recent jump in coronavirus infections outweighed reopening optimism and kept the index on course for a muted weekly showing.GlaxoSmithKline (GS

The UK's leading shares had made decent gains after a slow start in relatively quiet trading on Friday with traders keeping their powder dry ahead of the latest US employment data. But concerns over a recent jump in coronavirus infections outweighed reopening optimism and kept the index on course for a muted weekly showing.At 9am, the benchmark FTSE 100 had moved 0.46% higher to 7,158.11 with home

For multiple quarters BT's (BT.A) consumer business has provided most of the telco group's scant growth. But today's third quarter results pose the question; has consumer progress peaked?In the three months to 31 December, flat revenues in the consumer division at £1.26bn reflect continued voice line losses that offset progress from its acquired mobile business, EE.Even its expensive investment i

Carpet and floor coverings purveyor Carpetright (CPR) unfurls its second profit warning in two months. Trading in the important post-Christmas sales has been 'significantly behind expectations' which sends its shares crashing 40% lower to 98p.Core UK flooring like-for-like sales have slumped 7.1% since Christmas, a disastrous showing in the important winter trading period for Carpetright.This mean

Cut-price general merchandise seller B&M European Value Retail (BME) reports record Christmas trading with like-for-like sales in its core UK B&M estate up 3.9%.While this does represent a slowing of growth from the first half rate, the strong performance builds on last year's strong third quarter comparator, when UK like-for-likes shot up 7.2%.In a week when several rival retail updates were poor

Supermarkets operator Morrisons (MRW) reports bumper sales over the Christmas and New Year period. Like-for-like sales increased 3.7% for the six weeks to 7 January, a performance all the more impressive given tough prior year comparatives.CEO David Potts' (pictured below) strategy is clearly paying off. More shoppers are flocking to the tills and analysts are increasingly excited by the potential

Short-sellers are being squeezed as online grocer Ocado (OCDO) inks a technology tie-up with French supermarkets operator Groupe Casino.Shares in the online supermarket surge ahead 20% to 307.4p as boss Tim Steiner finally delivers the major international deal long-promised to shareholders, although it will take time before profits from the partnership begin to filter through.A 'short squeeze' occ

UK stock markets are expected to remain quiet in the early session on Wednesday as investors look ahead to today's Budget speech.In one of the most eagerly awaited in years, finance minister Philip Hammond will announce on Wednesday how much he can afford to help unhappy voters as he faces a potentially sharp deterioration in the economy's growth prospects.Hammond will begin his speech at 12.30pm

UK-listed energy supply business SSE (SSE) has confirmed that it is in talks over a possible merger with the UK arm of German utility group Innogy.In a statement to the market issued at 2.02pm on Tuesday, SSE said the new company would see SSE's domestic UK supply and services business join forces with Npower, the household and business energy supply division of Innogy.'The discussions between SSE

Fashion-to-home furnishings giant Next's (NXT) shares are taking a battering, as the high street bellwether's third quarter sales miss expectations.CEO Simon Wolfson (pictured below) issues a pessimistic outlook for the key fourth quarter including Christmas, basically conceding management has no clue how sales will pan out over the peak selling period.'Week by week sales volatility makes it very

The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is in profit for the third consecutive quarter this year. That's no mean feat given the decade or more of losses since the bank was bailed out by the taxpayer.But the sword of Damocles hangs over the bank. Investigations by the US Department of Justice (DoJ) over miss-selling mortgage-backed securities in 2008 should give investors pause, as should the potential fo

Pre-tax profit of £1.1bn from FTSE 100 bank Barclays (BARC) came in below consensus forecasts of £1.4bn in its third quarter to 30 September.The bank's net interest income fell by £320m year-on-year to below £2.5bn. Its net fee, commission and other income was flat at £2.7bn again on a year-on-year basis.Shares in the bank fell 6.7% to 183.9p, and soared to the top of the FTSE 100 loser board

British heritage brand Debenhams (DEB) edges 0.2% higher to 46.1p as full year results meet downgraded expectations. Investors are also focusing on positive early signs from its 'Debenhams Redesigned' turnaround strategy.Yet the subdued share price reaction suggests many investors remain unconvinced by the chances of success for the department store operator's ambitious (and costly) makeover.Resul

The Government has confirmed plans to introduce energy price caps across what prime minister Theresa May has called 'the broken energy market.'The news prompted a steep decline in the share price of Centrica (CNA) which looks likely to be worst hit by an Ofgem clampdown. It has also called into question the group's future dividend payout plans, the main reason investors hold the shares.The stock h

Quintessentially British brand it may be, but Ted Baker (TED) is anything but a struggling UK high street stalwart.A premium lifestyle brand with excitingly global growth ambitions, Ted Baker's half year results reveal a forecast-beating 12.7% rise in taxable profits to £24.2m and sustain a recent rally, the shares bid up another 4p to £28.24.However, news of continuing 'challenging external mar

British charter Monarch Airlines has entered administration except for its engineering operations. Stripping out at a stroke an estimated six million seats of Europe-wide capacity UK-listed rivals are expected to see their own load factors (passenger numbers) improve.Monarch is the latest casualty of a vicious battle in the skies. 'The third airline failure this year in Europe, after Alitalia and

Online supermarket Ocado (OCDO) wants you to believe its latest trading update is excellent. Yet a near-5% share price decline to 287.8p shows that investors aren't fooled by bullish statements from the company.Falling average order size and rising costs are the key reasons behind today's share price retreat.Investors may also be disappointed that no new international customers have been announced