First quarter sales and profit beat expectationsStrategy update scheduled for 21 MayFull year outlook confirmedShares in AstraZeneca (AZN) surged 5% to £119.3 closing in on a new 52-week high after first quarter revenue and earnings eclipsed market expectations and the pharmaceutical company reiterated full year guidance.After a few months of consolidation, the shares are back to winning ways and

After almost closing at a new high in early April, the UK?s blue-chip FTSE 100 has finally made it into the ranks of indices hitting new all-time highs thanks to a 4.5% gain since the start of January.On 22 April the index reached its highest ever close and on 23 April it moved through its previous intra-day high.The UK clearly isn?t in the same league as the US, where the S&P 500 has notched up n

Positive late stage trail results for ImfinziFirst and only immunotherapy to demonstrate survival benefitImfinzi is Astra?s second biggest selling cancer drugPharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca (AZN) said a late-stage trial for its blockbuster lung cancer drug Imfinzi significantly improved overall survival and disease-free progression in patients with aggressive small cell lung cancer.Small cell lun

HgCapital Trust (HGT) 458.8pMarket cap: £2.1 billionWhile it may not be as well known as FTSE 100 private equity firm 3i (III), specialist software and services investment trust HgCapital (HGT) has an equally impressive track record.Total share-price returns over the last decade are 18.8% per year, slightly ahead of the FTSE 100 giant which has posted 18% compound annual growth, while 2023 saw it

Stocks in London opened mixed on a quiet Monday, with the week starting to become progressively more busy on Tuesday, with a slew of economic indicators in particular on Thursday.On Tuesday, markets in New York will reopen, after being closed for the Washington?s Birthday public holiday on Monday.The FTSE 100 index was up 8.27 points, 0.1%, at 7,719.98. The FTSE 250 was down 41.39 points, 0.2%, at

Stock prices edged lower in London early Monday, as investors assessed the latest economic data from China, and considered possible trajectories for US interest rate cuts.The FTSE 100 index opened down 7.26 points, 0.1%, at 7,704.45. The FTSE 250 was down 3.03 points at 19,188.90, and the AIM All-Share was down 1.05 points, 0.1%, at 757.73.The Cboe UK 100 was slightly lower at 771.49, the Cboe UK

London?s FTSE 100 was higher in the aftermath of the Bank of England keeping UK interest rates unmoved, in an unsurprising move, though there was a dramatic vote split.Sterling was quoted at $1.2657 shortly after midday on Thursday, lower than $1.2715 at the London equities close on Wednesday. Before the decision, the pound was trading at $1.2635.The FTSE 100 index was up 30.05 points, 0.4%, at 7,

It has been an up and down year for the UK stock market but some names have really shone over the course of the last 12 months. In this article we go through the market cap ranks to identify the best performing large-, mid- and small-cap stocks in 2023.£5 billion+ market capWhile Nvidia (NVDA:NASDAQ) has dominated headlines globally as excitement around AI (artificial intelligence) helped drive i

There were several trends in the UK stock market this year which, if you managed to identify them, served you well.Most obviously, although it may not have seemed it at the index level, large-cap stocks generally performed better than small- and mid-caps, although for the lucky few the small-cap space has been rife with takeover activity.In terms of sectors, aerospace and defence topped the FTSE 3

Deal for novel respiratory vaccine-makerPrice represents a 91% premiumAdds to expertise in respiratory syncytial virusGlobal biopharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca (AZN) has agreed to purchase Nasdaq-listed vaccine maker Icosavax (ICVZ:NASDAQ) for up to $1.1 billion in cash.The proposed transaction is designed to strengthen AstraZeneca?s Vaccines and Immune Therapies late-stage pipeline and build on

Stocks in London opened higher on a Friday full of economic indicator releases, and after China?s factory sector returned to growth in November.The FTSE 100 index opened up 47.91 points, 0.6%, at 7,501.66. The FTSE 250 was up 34.99 points, 0.2%, at 18,268.46, and the AIM All-Share was up 0.51 of a point, 0.1%, at 714.29.The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.7% at 748.20, the Cboe UK 250 was virtually flat at 1

Unless they own shares in investment trusts, most readers probably will not have heard of the phrase 'continuation vote', and there is a chance a good many who do own investment trusts may be unfamiliar with them too.However, as the recent ups and (mostly) downs at music royalty fund Hipgnosis Songs Fund (SONG) have demonstrated, continuation votes can be literally a make-or-break event for trusts

According to data from the AIC, the average investment trust discount to net asset value has widened from 12.2% at the end of 2022 to 14.5% as of 8 September 2023, while sector averages have generally widened. The exception is private equity, which narrowed from 25.1% to 4.5%, skewed by 3i's (III) dramatic swing from discount to premium.While this presents an opportunity to buy into parts of the m

It has not been an easy decade to be a fund manager. Brexit, a global pandemic, the largest war in Europe for a generation and an inflation crisis have punctuated a 10-year period which has seen significant market volatility. However, steering investors' money through difficult waters is how a good fund manager earns their corn.Using FE Analytics' platform, Shares has crunched the numbers to ident

Equities in London had a sluggish morning on Friday, though the mood was somewhat calmer after a rocky couple of days following a US credit rating cut.After the Bank of England decision on Thursday, US data takes centre-stage on Friday. The latest jobs report is posted at 1330 BST.The FTSE 100 index was down 8.47 points, 0.1%, at 7,520.69. The FTSE 250 was up 22.81 points, 0.1%, at 18,856.46, and

News that 3i Infrastructure (3IN) is selling its 25% stake in Attero at a significant premium to its valuation just four months ago confirms for us the market is undervaluing the shares.The investment trust, which comes from the same stable as 3i Group (III), a core shareholder and one of the best performers on the FTSE 100 over the past decade, has found life harder on the stock market since inte

Another week, another takeover - this time it is alternative asset manager Gresham House (GHE:AIM), which is being bought by private equity firm Searchlight for £470 million.At £11.05 per share, 63% above the previous closing price and 10% above the all-time high a year ago, the purchase price represents an enterprise value of almost 16 times last year's earnings before interest, tax, depreciati

A big profit warning on 14 June from Hays' (HAS) rival Robert Walters (RWA) has created nervousness ahead of the former's fourth quarter and full-year trading update on 13 July.The recruitment space is often a bellwether for the wider economy and, with economic clouds gathering, the portents are not too promising.This is despite April's solid third quarter update from Hays, with the company seeing

Lung cancer drug results fall short of expectationsShares fall to two month lowPremium valuation to the sectorAstraZeneca (AZN) shares were bottom of the blue chip FTSE 100 on Monday, dropping 5.6% to £106.45 after disappointing trial results for its lung cancer antibody drug datapotamab deruxtecan which is being jointly developed with Daiichi Sankyo.The company said: 'While the primary endpoint

The London market was starting the second half of 2023 in a positive mood, after gains by Asian equities earlier Monday and a higher close on Wall Street on Friday.Focus on Monday was a series of purchasing managers' index readings, with factory activity in Japan, German and the eurozone all shrinking in June and growth slowing in China.Trading activity is likely to be limited in the first half of