Shares in oil and gas small caps Providence Resources (PVR:AIM) and Lansdowne Oil & Gas (LOGP:AIM) are up 24.4% and 33.2% respectively on news which should bring drilling on their shared Barryroe project closer.Providence currently owns 80% of Barryroe and Lansdowne 20%.Providence has been notified that the $10m due from Chinese partner APEC Energy Enterprises has been transferred. In total APEC w

The FTSE has so far managed to keep its chin up on the final day of trading in 2017. At 9am the blue chip index traded 10 points higher at 7,632.Topping the leader board was Vectura (VEC), extending yesterday's rally amid vague bid rumours. Today it moved another 3.6% higher to 125.85p.Among the mid and large caps, Wizz Air (WIZZ) signed an agreement to buy 146 Airbus A320neo Family aircraft. They

Having hit a new record high during yesterday's session, the FTSE 100 today advances by a further seven points to 7,628. Miners and financial companies led the way including a 1.4% gain from Anglo American (AAL) and 1.1% hike from Old Mutual (OML).There was a notable absence of trading updates and financial results from large and mid-cap stocks.Among the select pieces of mid-cap news was further s

The UK stock market opens cautiously higher in early trade on Wednesday with financials and housebuilders leading the early northbound charge. With less than 24 hours before voting on whether the UK should stay or exit the European Union, latest polls suggest the results is too close to call, keeping investors on the fence.The FTSE 100 index nudges around 10 points higher to 6,236, although midcap

UK shares remain largely flat in early trade on Tuesday as investors await a report that is expected to show a slowdown in UK construction activity growth. The Markit/CIPS UK construction purchasing mangers' index is estimated to fall to 58.8 in October, from 59.9 a month earlier. The benchmark FTSE 100 index is largely unchanged from yesterday's close at 6,359, while London midcaps and smaller co

London shares surge in early trade on Monday as investors scent a short-term solution to ongoing Greece debt problems, with speculation running high that a near-term deal with creditors is at last on the cards. That positive spurs the benchmark FTSE 100 index to leap more than 1.3%, or close on 80 points, to 6,790.Utilities are in demand with water supplier behind Severn Trent (SVT) up nearly 3% t

UK stocks make a feeble attempt at a rally in early trade on Wednesday after Tuesday's sharp sell-off, with little in the way of economic or corporate news to inspire interest. The FTSE 100 climbs 37 points, or 0.5%, higher but remains below the 7,000 mark at 6,985.Major banks open higher after yesterday's significant falls, although gains are little to write home about, Royal Bank of Scotland (RB

UK markets are boosted early on Wednesday by a takeover offer for BG (BG.) and hopes for more merger and acquisition activity. The benchmark FTSE 100 index is again pressing the key 7,000 level, up around 28 points, or 0.4%, at 6,990, while midcaps are also on the rise, the FTSE 250 close to 0.4% higher at 17,562.Royal Dutch Shell's (RDSB) £47 billion bid for BG - which you can read about in deta

He may have cultivated a curmudgeonly image but Hull-based poet Philip Larkin had a wonderful way with words. His evocation of 'the unfailing sense of being young, spread out like a spring-woken tree' in the poem Love Songs in Age, from perhaps his best-known collection, The Whitsun Weddings never ceases to move, especially at this time of year. Stock market investors are a hard-nosed lot and may

A deal to acquire an interest in fresh acreage offshore Ireland increases the attractions of oil explorer and one of Shares' Tips for 2013 Fastnet Oil & Gas (FAST:AIM).The £69 million market cap has won the option to acquire a 60% interest in the Deep Kinsale prospect in the Celtic Sea, offshore Ireland, in return for funding 100% of the costs of drilling a well. It is believed the prospect, whic

Buy Lansdowne Oil & Gas (LOGP:AIM) ahead of anticipated newsflow on farm-out deals. These should offer fresh insight into the value of its portfolio in the Celtic Sea off the coast of Ireland.Lansdowne has a 20% stake in the successfully appraised 280 million barrel Barryroe oil discovery operated by peer Providence Resources (PVR). Broker Brewin Dolphin puts the worth of its interest in the find