The FTSE 100 endures a subdued start, down 0.3% to 7,424,93, taking its cue from a lukewarm showing on the Asian market overnight. Oil prices hit their highest level so far in 2019 as Libyan output is affected by the long-running civil war in the country. Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct (SPD) says it has offered to underwrite a £150m equity raising by struggling department store Debenhams ...

London’s FTSE 100 is doing its best to get back through the psychologically-important 7,000 level as the new trading week kicks off, ticking 4.5 points higher to 6,973 early on with oil producers, pharmaceuticals and tobacco stocks powering the advance in the blue-chip index. Bookie William Hill’s (WMH) poor run of form continues, the shares marked 3% lower to 170.5p on a mixed trading ...

MARKET CAP: £1BN & ABOVE  OCADO +101% Shares in Ocado (OCDO) have doubled in value in 2018 as the company made progress with signing international contracts where it sets up large distribution centres to enable online grocery services. Building on a 2017 tie-up with France’s Groupe Casino, Ocado has this year signed deals with Canada’s Sobeys, Sweden’s ICA and most ...

UK stocks get off to a slow start with the FTSE 100 index virtually flat on Tuesday’s close at 7,226 points. Financial and Consumer stocks are the early leaders while exporters come under pressure as the Pound continues to climb against the US Dollar. Ticketing technology firm Accesso (ACSO:AIM) shares rally 3% to £25.75 on news of a partnership with Google which will allow customers to book ...

Aerospace behemoth Rolls Royce (RR.) enjoys an almost 7% share price lift to 949.50p as it reports almost £2bn in profits for the first half to 30 June. This is especially pleasing to investors as at the same time last year the company reported a loss of over £2bn. Despite this decent turnaround, chief executive Warren East says ‘this is no time for complacency’. Insurance company ...

Kurdistan oil producer Genel Energy (GENL) is downgraded from ‘speculative buy’ to ‘hold’ by Canaccord Genuity after the departure of several key executives from its board. In April chairman and founder Tony Hayward announced his retirement and non-executive director Chakib Sbiti stepped down. In early June chief financial officer Ben Monaghan announced his departure and on 5 June ...

The FTSE 100 is a handful of points higher at 7,552.83 as trading resumes after the terrorist attack at London Bridge over the weekend. Online groceries firm Ocado (OCDO) gains 6.6% to 336.8p as it flags the first international customer for its Ocado Smart Platform. The regional European retailer - which wishes to remain anonymous - will pay an up-front fee along with ongoing charges based on ...

The FTSE 100 surges 1.5% to 7,223.23 as investors react positively to the results of the first round of voting in French presidential elections. Although right-wing populist candidate Marine Le Pen made the second round, her centrist opponent Emmanuel Macron is widely expected to prevail in the final run-off on 7 May. The euro surged, supporting stocks with exposure to the currency such as ...

UK telecoms giant BT (BT.A) has cut its revenue, earnings and free cash flow forecasts for 2017 and 2018 after finding that 'inappropriate' accounting behaviour in its Italian business went far deeper than previously thought. BT's Italian arm has been under investigation, aided by KPMG, sparking a £145m adjustment of the business. But new information sparks a much larger write-down of ...

New management, a restructured balance sheet and a more regular payment schedule for its crude exports makes now the perfect time to reappraise former retail favourite oil stock Gulf Keystone Petroleum (GKP). Through a period which has seen the company nearly go bust and its share price fluctuate between little more than a penny and more than £4, one thing has remained consistent about the ...

Norwegian oil and gas operator DNO has offered to pay $300 million for Kurdistan-focused oil play Gulf Keystone Petroleum (GKP) in a cash and shares deal. Investors bid up the shares by 18.5% to 4.6p on the news which comes a fortnight after the target negotiated a debt restructuring with creditors. DNO says its offer is priced at a 20% premium to the level at which Gulf Keystone plans to ...

London stocks make modest gains in early trade on Friday as the market mulls over a busy week that included central bank policy decisions, a raft of economic data and the UK Budget 2016. The FTSE 100 nudges 30-odd points higher to 6,229, with midcaps and smaller companies running higher by similar margins. Foods-to-fashion conglomerate Associated British Foods (ABF) firms 15.5p to ...

Small cap broker SP Angel says oil producer Genel Energy (GENL) is the obvious candidate to acquire its Kurdistan peer Gulf Keystone Petroleum (GKP) as both companies report export payments for their crude oil from the Kurdistan Regional Government. Despite this seemingly good news a fresh 11-year low for oil prices sees shares in both companies under pressure - Genel down 2.3% to 163p and ...

The FTSE 100 is again on the back foot as resources companies suffered thanks to weak commodity prices. Financials, pharmaceuticals, property and retail stocks are also under pressure. Staying in the retail sector Sainsbury's (SBY) is up 0.3% to 242.85p as Home Retail (HOME) – down 6.6% to 130.1p – confirms it rejected the former’s takeover bid because it undervalued the group and its ...

Macquarie says there are ‘compelling opportunities’ in the E&P sector and reckons balance sheet strength will be key to ‘riding out the storm’. The investment bank has ranked ten mid cap oil companies in three different groupings according to their financial position if oil prices remain below $70 per barrel through 2018. Of the UK-listed firms in its universe Cairn (CNE) and ...

Shares’ 15 for 2015 stock picks thrashed the market this year, gaining an average of 11.8% versus a 2.2% gain on the FTSE All-Share over the comparative 12-month period. That follows a 5.9% gain for our 2014 portfolio which also outperfomed the market. While we can’t promise our 2016 picks will deliver the same results, we’re optimistic about the prospects for this year’s Dynamite ...

Fancy owning shares in a company that stands a good chance of being in the FTSE 100 within the next five years? Backing the next blue chip sounds very enticing and predicting the companies is not as unrealistic as one might imagine. Three companies will join the FTSE 100 index as part of the latest quarterly reshuffle. Recent IPO and payment processing play Worldpay (WPG), specialist lender ...

London shares lose early gains to drift lower as investor optimism is quickly swept aside despite a fairly robust showing on Wall Street overnight. The FTSE 100 index slips around 23 points to 6,328, matching the prevailing mood on Europe's main markets on Tuesday, although UK midcaps perform better. The FTSE 250 is up close on 30 points at 16,945, albeit a fractional gain. In corporate ...

Kurdistan oil producers Genel Energy (GENL) and Gulf Keystone Petroleum (GKP) are on the charge – up 6.9% to 366.5p and 6.6% to 30.9p respectively - as the government in the semi-autonomous part of Iraq appears to deliver on a pledge to commence regular payments for crude exports. An announcement from Gulf Keystone reveals a net payment from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) of $12 ...

London shares rebound in early trade on Thursday, reversing some of the losses built up earlier in the week despite mixed trading on Wall Street and across Asia overnight. The benchmark FTSE 100 index rallies 58 points, or a bout 1%, to 6,327, matching similar early progress on Europe's main stock markets. Cambridge-based chip designs expert ARM (ARM) heads the Footsie leader board with a ...