London's FTSE 100 firms 18.7 points to trade at 7,197.8 on Wednesday, boosted by share price gains from the banking and mining sectors, while markets across mainland Europe and Asia also take a step forward.Supermarket J Sainsbury (SBRY) slumps 15.3% to 244p as the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) says its planned £7.3bn takeover of Walmart-owned Asda could push up prices and reduce...

Investors appear to be regaining confidence after a volatile period last week with markets marching forward across the UK, mainland Europe and Asia on Monday morning, the FTSE 100 climbing 26.4 points higher to 7,040.3 and the FTSE 250 up almost 140 points at 18,729.Industrial components distributor Diploma (DPLM) ticks up 7.3% to £13.90 on strong full year results revealing 9% growth in...

Haydale Graphene Industries (HAYD:AIM) has reported a 90% surge in revenue to £1.5m in the first half, up from £0.8m in the first six months of 2015.Despite a decent set of numbers and strong test results from its partner Huntsman concerning its Araldite resin, investors are struggling to get excited as the stock nudges 0.2% higher to 166.4p.Haydale's plan is to adds graphene, a strong...

As London's FTSE 100 ticks up by a modest 14.69 points to 7,155.4, insurer and Lloyd's syndicates manager Beazley (BEZ) is among the early risers, bid up 9.2% to 446.1p as CEO Andrew Horton reports a good performance 'across the board' for 2016.Beazley generated improved taxable profits of $293.2m (2015: $284.0m) on gross premiums up 6% to almost $2.2bn last year, despite more challenging...

Haydale Graphene Industries (HAYD:AIM) has struck a major deal with Huntsman (HUN:NYSE), a $4.6bn billion chemicals business. Huntsman has secured the exclusive rights to market, distribute and sell a range of its resins including Araldite that have been strengthened via Haydale's graphene enrichment process. This is a major step forward for Haydale, although still subject to Huntsman's...

The FTSE 100 declines 0.6% to 6,800 at the start of the new trading week. There are notable declines in banks and oil producers, more than offsetting positive returns from miners and utilities.Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) jumps 3.6% to 296.45p as full year results are ahead of expectation, despite reporting a 39% decline in pre-tax profit to £352.7m. Pre-tax profit and earnings per share...

Carmarthenshire-based Haydale Graphene Industries (HAYD:AIM) looks to be on the cusp of commercialising its ideas. It has developed a way of adding graphene to various materials to improve their properties, such as strength or conductivity.Graphene consists of very thin layers of carbon. It is lightweight yet considered to be 200 times stronger than steel; and it conducts heat and...

Another hopeful is attempting to turn carbon-based 'super' material graphene into cash as Directa Plus (DCTA:AIM) joined the junior market on Friday. Given the patchy performance of others listed companies trying that same trick it is somewhat surprising that the Italian company has managed to raise £12.8 million from investors, priced at 75p per share. Even more eye-popping is the fact that...

Stonegate Pub eyes IPOStonegate Pub, the UK's fourth-largest managed pub company, is thought to be considering a £1 billion stock market float early next year. The Slug & Lettuce and Yates's owner recently bought 53 pubs from Lone Star Funds for a rumoured £100 million, taking its estate to 665 pubs. (EP)AFC makes grid deliveryAlkaline fuel cell specialist AFC Energy (AFC:AIM) has delivered...

Dubbed 'micro caps' by investors, the London stock market's smallest quoted company fry can be binary bets, as likely to 'turn turtle' as morph into a 'ten-bagger', the latter the holy grail of growth company investing. Yet despite their inherent risks, micro caps should form at least a portion of a well-diversified portfolio, since they offer potential for rapid-paced growth and abundant...

Looking to cyclicalsInvestment bank Morgan Stanley is moving overweight on cyclical stocks - turning positive on the industrials sector and negative on health care. 'Industrials look oversold, with attractive valuations and some areas showing an improvement in EPS (earnings per share) momentum,' it notes. 'In contrast, health care performance looks very extended, with increasingly stretched...