UK shares rose on Tuesday as travel stocks rallied on a surprisingly strong update from TUI (TUI) and hopes that the coronavirus may reach its peak in Wuhan this month thanks to the Chinese government’s ‘lockdown’ of the city. The FTSE 100 index gained 0.7% to 7,502 points led by holiday firm TUI which said improved bookings for winter holidays in its first quarter would help offset the ...

Fallen star fund manager Neil Woodford’s one-time flagship fund Woodford Equity Income is now returning its depleted capital to investors. The first payment of cash to investors is expected to be on or around 30 January, representing about 70% of the fund’s current value. If you feel royally let down by Woodford and want a better fund generating income, help is at hand. Rather than ...

After a promising start to 2020, the markets are reeling from the outbreak of the Chinese coronavirus and the impact the deadly virus could have on the global economy. As we write the FTSE 100 is trading at its lowest levels since mid-December as investors look for clarity on just how serious the outbreak could get and when and how it will be contained. What has happened? Around the turn ...

Stocks around the world were hit on Monday as fears intensified over China’s virus outbreak and the economic impact on the luxury and travel sectors. The FTSE 100 fell 1.4% to 7,485 points and the FTSE 250 was off 1.1% at 21,490 points. European markets saw falls of between 0.9% and 1.5%. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 dropped 2% while markets in China and Hong Kong were closed for a ...

Shares in budget airline Ryanair (RYA) soared 6.7% to a 12-month high of €16.25 after it upgraded its full year earnings forecast to over a billion euros. In a trading update, Ryanair said its Christmas and New Year period was ‘stronger than expected’ thanks to better close-in bookings at higher than expected yields. The airline added that forward bookings for January to April are ...

UK markets opened on the front foot after new all-time highs were registered in the US overnight as relative calm returned following US-Iranian tensions last week. By 9.15am the FTSE 100 index was 0.4% higher at 7,360 points while the mid-cap FTSE 250 index was up 0.25% at 21,696 points. Airlines and travel stocks continued to benefit from lower oil prices as IAG Group (IAG) and Easy Jet ...

London’s FTSE 100 started Thursday on the front foot, gaining 31.4 points to top the 7,600 mark as tensions between the US and Iran seemed to cool overnight. Corporate news was dominated by a flurry of festive updates from the hard-pressed retail sector, with the British Retail Consortium (BRC) stating that annual sales dipped in 2019 for the first time since 1995. Embattled retail giant ...

As it’s now December lots of people will be starting their Christmas shopping in earnest, but before you buy more toys for your children is there a more lasting present you could get them? While your child isn’t going to write to Santa asking for a contribution to their Junior ISA, their future self will thank you more than giving them the latest must-have toy. Parents often lament the ...

UK share dealing gets off to a slow start on a typically quiet Friday morning session with investor attention elsewhere. At the start of share trading the benchmark FTSE 100 is down roughly 25 points at 7,382.04, led by miners Evraz (EVR) and Anglo American (AAL), both off by around 3% at 373.7p and £20.495 respectively. British American Tobacco (BATS) tops the FTSE 100 leader board on ...

It has avoided the ‘unreliable optimism of some competitors’ and trimmed the top end of its profit guidance, but budget airline Ryanair (RYA) has nonetheless pleased the market this morning. Its shares are up around 6.4% to €13.28 as its half-year results were better than expected. Despite reporting flat profit after tax of €1.15bn, this was roughly 7% ahead of the market consensus ...

London’s FTSE 100 firmed 36.6 points to 7,338.97 on Monday with investors drawing confidence from optimistic comments from US commerce secretary Wilbur Ross about a US/China trade war resolution. Mining stocks Glencore (GLEN) and Antofagasta (ANTO), as well as Asia-focused life insurer Prudential (PRU) and several UK banking providers, led the blue chip benchmark higher. International ...

After a bit of a Halloween shocker for the FTSE 100 on Thursday the index ended up trading down 1.9% for the month of October. This compared with gains of 5.4% for the Nikkei 225, 2% for the S&P 500 and 3.5% for Germany’s DAX index. As AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould observes: ‘The FTSE wasn’t helped by sterling’s best performance since the financial crisis as raised hopes ...

Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell (RDSB) tops the FTSE 100 biggest losers list on Thursday after reporting a year-on-year fall in earnings for the third quarter. The energy group posted $4.8bn for the three months to 30 September, or roughly £3.7bn, versus a 17% decline in oil prices year-on-year. Royal Dutch Shell shares fell more than 3% in early trade to £22.50. The oil and gas giant said the ...

London’s FTSE 100 rose 30.4 points to 7,320.4 on Thursday thanks to strength in utilities, oil producers, miners and insurers. The most heavily-traded stock by volume was British Airways owner International Consolidated Airlines (IAG), which saw its shares fall 3.9% to 461.5p after downgrading earnings guidance. Imperial Brands (IMB) wafted 9.8% lower to £18.63 on a full year profit ...

Attacks on Saudi Arabian oil facilities over the weekend have prompted moves of as much as 20% higher in the price of oil as the market factors in the disruption to supply. It is reminder of how important Saudi Arabian production remains to global oil supply, despite the emergence of US shale production in recent years. This has several implications for investors. Firstly it is potentially ...

British Airways reached 100 years old at the end of last month, but its centenary celebrations haven’t exactly gone to plan. A two-day pilots’ strike this week, combined with stranded passengers and recent IT failures, as well as a data breach, has whacked the airline’s reputation. Shares in its owner International Consolidated Airlines (IAG) fell over 2% to 417p as the strike ...

UK stocks started the week on a positive note with the FTSE 100 index of leading stocks jumping 0.4% to 7,313. Firmer oil prices and a dip in the pound seem to be the main upside drivers. Shares in oil majors BP (BP.P) and Royal Dutch Shell (RDSB) both added 1.3% to 507p and £22.88 respectively. Crude prices gained on hopes that the new Saudi Arabian energy minister would continue the ...

Shares in aviation services firm BBA Aviation (BBA) have dropped 4% to 302p after it reported a dip in pre-tax profit and earnings per share in the six months to 30 June. BBA provides a variety of services to the airline industry, including maintenance and refuelling. That give it more insulation from many of the issues that typically dog the airline operators, such as rising fuel ...

Heavy selling on Asian markets and escalating trade tensions lead to second day straight of large losses across UK stock markets in early trade on Monday. Just mining group Fresnillo (FRES) and British Airways-owner International Consolidated Airlines (IAG) make positive moves across the whole FTSE 100, which slumps more than 100 points, or 1.35%, to 7,307.00. Leading the sell-off is grocery ...

The FTSE 100 fell a whopping 1.7% with a 134 point drop to 7,450 following a whole host of bad news across the world. After the Bank of England cut its growth forecast for the UK as it warned of the dangers of a no-deal Brexit, US president Donald Trump again used Twitter to move markets, announcing a fresh 10% tariff on another $300bn of Chinese goods, which effectively means all Chinese ...