Veteran investor and manager of the Fundsmith Equity Fund (B41YBW7), Terry Smith, has cashed in his holding in UK testing and certification business Intertek (ITRK) and switched into US consumer products group Church & Dwight, makers of Trojan condoms and the iconic Arm & Hammer-brand toothpaste and baking soda seller. Smith is thought to have doubled his money in Intertek, having ...

Major UK stocks ended the day in the green, lifted for a second day by companies that should benefit from a reopening of the economy. The rally comes after the UK Prime Minister Johnson sounded cautiously optimistic on Monday, with hopes that lockdown restrictions will start to take effect from 8 March and could come to a complete end by June. Travel and leisure stocks jumped nearly 2.5% in ...

UK markets were flat in early trade on Tuesday as gains from rising commodity prices, mining and energy stocks and a firm reopening trade were neutralised by weakness from banking giant HSBC (HSBA), which ditched its long-term profitability targets. At 9am, the commodity-heavy FTSE 100 benchmark was struggling to make any ground, clawing single point gains at 6,613.56. Mid-caps were much ...

UK stocks closed higher on Tuesday on optimism over an economic recovery and as President Biden pushed for a large US stimulus package. Trading overnight in Asia was buoyant with Japan's Nikkei 225 index up 1% while the China SE Composite index gained 0.8%. Brent Crude prices were 1% higher at $57 a barrel. After strong gains yesterday, silver dropped 5% to $27.4 an ounce while gold prices ...

UK stocks moved higher on Tuesday on optimism over an economic recovery and as President Biden pushed for a large US stimulus package. Trading overnight in Asia was buoyant with Japan's Nikkei 225 index up 1% while the China SE Composite index gained 0.8%. Brent Crude prices were 1% higher at $57 a barrel. After strong gains yesterday, silver dropped 5% to $27.4 an ounce while gold prices ...

UK stocks shot higher in early afternoon trading after news broke of promising data from a second coronavirus vaccine. Pharmaceutical company Moderna said its prospective vaccine was 94.5% effective in preventing the illness which has ravaged economies across the globe, data that surpassed last week's Pfizer news, putting a rocket under leading shares. At 1.30pm, the benchmark FTSE 100 had ...

Shares in Holiday Inn owner Intercontinental Hotels (IHG) fell 1% to £42.14 as the company laid clear the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, although there are signs it is on the road to recovery. In a trading update for the three months to 30 September, the firm said revenue per available room or RevPAR fell 53.4% year-on-year as occupancy rates fell 30%. RevPAR in the Americas was down ...

UK stocks opened higher on Friday after Barclays (BARC) posted better-than-expected earnings and retirement home company McCarthy & Stone (MCS) soared on a takeover bid. At 0824, the benchmark FTSE 100 index was up 42 points or 0.7% at 5,827.72 with banks and house builders leading the way. The rise comes after the conclusion of a more civilized US presidential debate that most pundits ...

The FTSE 100 gave up any gains by lunchtime on Friday to trade 0.8% lower at 5,776.34. Not helping sentiment was news that London has been placed on a UK Covid watchlist amid a surge in infections. European markets were also weak with the US futures markets implying there will be a poor start on Wall Street later. Closer to home there was renewed weakness for those businesses at the sharp ...

The rotation out of ‘mega-tech’ and high-flying biotech stocks into cheap, unloved ‘value’ stocks seems to be gathering momentum not just in the US but also in the UK market. On Tuesday shares in Royal Mail (RMG) leapt 25% after the firm raised its full year revenue guidance, albeit warning at the same time it would make a ‘material’ loss this year. Today the shares are up ...

So far, this year has been a washout for advisers and investment banks involved in mergers and acquisitions (M&A), as the Covid pandemic has forced firms to cut back on all non-essential spending and conserve cash. However, there are rumblings that deals could come back with a vengeance in the second-half period thanks to large amounts of cash on hand at private equity firms and cheap ...

Shares in Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza hotels-owner InterContinental Hotels (IHG) jumped 6.75% to £42.71 on signs that it could be making a tentative recovery. The market already knew its numbers for the six months to 30 June were going to be bad, and they were with revenue down 52% to $488 million, operating profit tumbling 82% to $74 million and adjusted earnings per share falling 90% to ...

European stock markets were higher across the board on Tuesday on speculation in Washington that President Trump could introduce a capital gains tax cut to create jobs, and signs that some of the US states hit hardest by the coronavirus such as California and Texas were seeing fewer hospitalisations. UK stocks even shrugged off the latest employment data which showed the number of people in ...

UK stocks eased on Monday ahead of the latest round of talks with the European Union regarding Britain’s post-Brexit trading relationship with the bloc. Early confidence that a deal could be reached quickly has ebbed, with the two sides seemingly as far apart as ever. Sterling was steady against the US dollar at $1.2560 while Brent crude futures fell for a third session to $42.75 and gold ...

London’s FTSE fell 30.5 points or 0.49% to 6,195.3 on Tuesday as fears of a resurgence of COVID-19 cases were reinforced by new lockdown measures, notably in the UK city of Leicester. Also weighing on sentiment was the news that the UK’s first quarter GDP reading has been revised lower. In corporate news, Royal Dutch Shell (RDSB) slipped 1.8% to £12.48 as the oil giant warned that it ...

Investors continued to see the bright side on Thursday morning as the FTSE 100 gained 0.35% in opening trade to 5,874.01, despite more bad economic news. The Bank of England has warned of the deepest recession on record as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, and said the UK economy is set to shrink around 14% this year based on the lockdown being relaxed in June. Members of the Bank’s ...

Oil producer Royal Dutch Shell (RDSB) was meant to be the company that never disappoints when it comes to dividends. Sadly its decision to slash its payment by two thirds means other stocks effectively now have free rein to do the same. The drastic actions by companies to preserve cash have now seen 309 London-listed stocks either cut, suspend or delay dividends, including 41 in the FTSE ...

Shares in Holiday Inn owner InterContinental Hotels (IHG) jumped 4.4% this morning to £35.09 after it tapped into £600m of Bank of England funding and secured new lending arrangements with its banks. The extra money gives the hotel group, whose brands include Holiday Inn, InterContinental, Crowne Plaza, Six Senses and Staybridge Suites, around $2bn in liquidity, comprised of $1.35bn cash on ...

UK were firmer at the open on Monday, taking their cue from positive grey market trading on Wall Street and strong Asian gains, after the Bank of Japan expanded its monetary stimulus again. The benchmark FTSE 100 rallied a fraction off 100 point, or 1.7%, to 5,851.95, while the mid cap FTSE 250 charged 2% higher at 15,996.93. Asia markets have got off to a positive start as a raft of ...

Fundsmith Equity (B41YBW7) 416p Gain to date: 1.2% Original entry point: Buy at 411p, 26 March 2020 Holders of Fundsmith Equity (B41YBW7) had the opportunity to digest the thoughts of manager Terry Smith on the recent market volatility as he put out his latest letter to investors.  The first quarter performance of the fund for 2020 shows it outperformed the MSCI World index by ...