Stocks price in London were higher at midday on Thursday as rising oil prices and developments in China helped lift blue-chip oil majors and miners.The pound weakened against the dollar, meanwhile, ahead of a key US inflation print, due out at 1330 BST.The FTSE 100 index added 55.55 points, 0.7%, at 7,675.58. The FTSE 250 surged 196.84 points, 1.1%, at 18,073.08, and the AIM All-Share climbed 2.26

Stock prices in London were higher at the open on Thursday, as data showed a slight return to growth for the UK economy in August, and investors weighed the likelihood that US interest rates have peaked.The FTSE 100 index opened up 24.25 points, 0.3%, at 7,644.28. The FTSE 250 was 18.67 points, 0.1%, at 17,894.91, and the AIM All-Share was up 1.83 points, 0.3%, at 697.52The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.3%

Stocks in London were a mixed bag on Friday at the open, although the FTSE 100 was up, as investors await the US jobs data read later in the day, with increasing hopes it would seal the deal on the US Federal Reserve would pause hiking interest rates.'Investors have already had plenty of economic releases to digest this week, but arguably the most crucial data point as far as the Fed is concerned

Stock prices in London were lower at midday on Monday, with market mood uneasy as a crisis in the Chinese real estate sector fuelled concerns about the health of the world's second-largest economy.'A crisis in the Chinese real estate sector is a story the market has heard before and not one which has typically come with a happy ending for stocks,' said AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.The FT

Stocks were pushed into the red in London on Monday morning as the Chinese property market faltered on missed bond payments by developer Country Garden.The FTSE 100 index opened down 19.97 points, 0.3%, at 7,504.19. The FTSE 250 was down 25.95 points, 0.1%, at 18,773.75, and the AIM All-Share was down 0.57 of a point, 0.1%, at 756.00.The Cboe UK 100 was down 0.2% at 748.88, the Cboe UK 250 was dow

Any readers who share Warren Buffett?s opinion that gold is an inert, useless lump can turn over the page right now. The Sage of Omaha has long since asserted that an alien invader would dismiss the purportedly precious metal as worthless were they to trip over an ingot upon their arrival from outer space.That might be going a bit far, as even the most hardened sceptic would probably be prepared t

Equities in London, Paris and Frankfurt were attempting to rally on Friday, at the end of a difficult week for stock markets, but with the key US nonfarm payroll figures due in the early afternoon, a positive close was by no means certain.Consensus, according to FXStreet, expects the US economy to have added 300,000 net jobs in August, slowing from the 528,000 added in July. A stronger-than-expect

London share prices moved tentatively higher at the open, as a partial rebound in crude prices lifted oil producers, but bigger bets were on hold ahead of the key data point that comes on the first Friday of every month, the US nonfarm payroll report.The FTSE 100 index was up 32.60 points, or 0.5%, at 7,181.10 early Friday. The mid-cap FTSE 250 index was up 93.25 points, or 0.5%, at 18,586.99. The

Having been in the doldrums for several months, shares in housebuilder Berkeley (BKG) rallied to the top of the FTSE 100 leader board with a rise of 4.6% to £48.50 after the firm raised its profit outlook for the next three years on a substantial increase in home sales.RAISED GUIDANCEAfter a strong first half, in which the south of England focused builder completed 1,828 new homes at an average p

The MSCI China index is down by more than 20% over the past three months in response to regulatory clampdown in the country and a series of downgrades to Chinese growth forecasts. This has provided further ammunition to sceptics of the Chinese economic miracle, who argue that investing in the region is an increasingly risky proposition.However, there is a compelling argument that we have reached a

The Silver Surfer was the creation of Marvel Comics legend Jack Kirby and the character acted as the herald of Galactus, the devourer of planets. This intergalactic super-being was usually fended off by the Fantastic Four or The Avengers.From the point of view of investors, inflation devours wealth as scarily as Galactus consumed solar systems. Rather than turn to superheroes for protection agains

Whatever investors think of the quality and accuracy of the data coming out of China, on either the extent of the Covid-19 outbreak or the economy, they may be intrigued to note how the country is behaving, as that is much harder to obfuscate.Zijin Mining acquired Canada's Continental Gold for C$1.4bn in cash in March and last week Shandong Gold agreed to acquire junior Canadian gold digger TMAC R

America's headline S&P 500 stock index continues to swing around as bulls and bears grapple for supremacy - and while they are slugging it out gold is quietly doing the business for investors.The S&P 500 is up by barely 2% over the past year, while gold is up by a nearly a quarter and a leading index of 15 gold miners is showing gains of nearly 40%.Those figures are in dollars, so the capital gain

The investment decisions that generate the best returns are rarely the most comfortable or easy ones, and few asset classes generate such strong feelings as gold.Some investors will be inclined to share the view of economist John Maynard Keynes that the precious metal is a barbarous relic. Others will warm to legendary investor Warren Buffett's view that gold has no intrinsic value, on the grounds

Talk of escalating trade tensions is widespread and this is very important to investors. There is increasing concern that tariffs imposed on a swathe of overseas goods by US president Donald Trump, and Chinese retaliation, threaten a bruising time for a range of shares, funds and other assets owned by investors around the world including the UK.TRADE WAR:IMPACT ON INVESTORS IN A NUTSHELStock marke

It was the takeover that was too good to be true. Investors hoping for a golden Christmas will be sorely disappointed at news that Central Rand Gold (CRND:AIM) has scrappedall takeover talks. The news prompts a 24% collapse in the share price to 2.75p, a far cry from the 54p indicative bid price.The South African miner had been in takeover talks with four different Asian investors who had proposed

London markets make sturdy gains ahead of the Bank of England's inflation report, due at 10.30am, with mining and financial stocks making the early running. In early trade on Thursday the FTSE 100 is up around 30 points, or 0.48%, at 6,851, while midcaps make even heftier gains. The FTSE 250 index is roughly 90 points higher at 16,723. Oil prices also make modest ground with WTI crude up 2% to $49

For an entrepreneur who spends his days selling product to hard-negotiating major retailers, infamous for putting the squeeze on suppliers' margins and themselves facing fragile consumer demand patterns, Paul Fineman has a positively upbeat demeanour. The chief executive officer's (CEO) enthusiasm for the business he leads, greetings cards-to-Christmas crackers concern International Greetings (IGR