Next kicks off festive reporting seasonScope for upbeat news from B&MPotential Christmas winners include CurrysRetail bellwether Next (NXT) kicks off the post-Christmas reporting season on 4 January followed by discounters B&M European Value Retail (BME) and Shoe Zone (SHOE:AIM) on 9 January.Investors will be eager to learn if the sector benefited from some last-minute festive shopping when all th

London's FTSE 100 softens 0.6% to 7,377 on Thursday amid a mixture of big names falling such as Royal Dutch Shell (RDSB) and BP (BP.), and several large caps trading without the rights to their dividend including Lloyds Banking (LLOY) and Direct Line Insurance (DLG).Over-50s specialist SAGA (SAGA) slumps 39% lower to 65.1p on the news earnings are going backwards as it struggles to make a success

The FTSE 100 advances 26 points to 7,155 on Tuesday, extending yesterday's gains with miners, tobacco stocks, banks and healthcare firms helping to drive up the blue-chip benchmark early on.Online trading platform Plus500 (PLUS) plummets 35.2% lower to £10.06 on a warning 2019 profit is likely to be 'materially lower than current market expectations' due to the revenue impact of tighter UK regula

London's FTSE 100 rebounds 21.3 points to 7,115 on Friday, blue-chips having suffered their worst day in six weeks yesterday, with the upwards move spearheaded by banks and miners.However, Scotland-based energy generator and supplier SSE (SSE) slips 1.75% lower to £11.53 after downgrading its full year earnings forecast following a delay in receiving government support. In a third quarter update,

Marketing analytics firm Ebiquity (EBQ:AIM) is looking more streamlined having agreed the £26m sale of its AdIntel division to global consultancy Nielsen (13 Feb).This business formed the bulk of the group's Marketing Intelligence operation - which aids firms in understanding their market and what other companies are spending cash on. Chief executive Michael Kargs tells Shares this has increasing

Macau Property Opportunities Fund (MPO) has laid out several reasons in its fourth quarter update as to why it could enjoy a prosperous year in 2018.Average rentals have grown by 6.4% quarter-on-quarter to HK$19.95 per square foot per month at The Waterside, one of the few waterfront living residential developments in Macau.Occupancy for the property stood at 59%. The fund is hopeful that Macau's

The FTSE 100 opens in positive territory, up 9.45 points to 7,679.22. The UK's leading index has been buoyed by statements from the US Federal Reserve and better than expected Chinese service sector data.Embattled department store operator Debenhams (DEB) crashes 23.9% to 27.08p after revealing its like-for-like sales fell in the 17 weeks to 30 December. In its Christmas trading update, the retail

Some of the best performing investment trusts in 2017 have been aided by favourable market conditions as global markets continue to grow.Top of the pile is Independent Investment Trust (IIT), which delivered a total return of 71.6% which is the share price gain and dividend income. Its portfolio has this year included various high-flying tech stocks, beverage companies and housebuilders, all of wh

The fund industry is striving to provide better returns for investors, sometimes with help from activist investors. This was seen with Alliance Trust (ATST), whose activist investor Elliot Advisors managed to oust the trust's chief executive Catherine Garrett-Cox last year. Alliance Trust's share price shot up 36.4% in the space of a year after Elliott pushed through its other corporate actions.An

Macau Property Opportunities (MPO) posts its first adjusted net asset value (NAV) growth of 0.3% in the second quarter of 2016 after nearly two years of decline.The closed-end property investment fund climbs 8.3% to 140.7p on the news.In 2014, Macau, the only place in China where gambling is legal, was hit by China's anti-corruption campaign as it aimed to prevent bribery, including junkets to enc

The financial markets offer a route to achieving inflation-busting returns. Are you taking advantage of this opportunity or letting cash sit idle in the bank with minimal returns? Now is the time to sit up and put your money to work.The latest Barclays Equity Gilt Study - a widely followed benchmark of the returns from different assets - shows that over the past 50 years, once the impact of inflat

Many financial services companies give the impression that investors only top up their ISAs in the last few weeks of March and the first week of April, such is the intensity of their advertising during this period. That is not true. The clever investor is the one who invests throughout the year and not simply the days leading up to the end of the tax year.The new tax year is now underway and you c

Whether it is to be celebrated or viewed as an ominous sign, the UK economy is once again relying on consumer spending to sustain growth as other sectors misfire. Exports are weak, investment is low but the British consumer, buoyed by rising wages and the benefits of the commodity market rout, is proving a resilient source of demand.Researchers have recently shown a marked pick-up in consumer conf

Retailers are increasingly looking at multi-channel opportunities and international expansion to win customers and retain loyalty, and specialist platform start-up Attraqt (ATQT:AIM) looks well-placed to benefit.The company only joined AIM last year (19 August), raising £1.25 million from investors at 50p for a £10.3 million launch market valuation. The shares are currently trading at 17% premiu

UK shares start the week with a whimper, the FTSE 100 staying largely flat as investor mood remains dogged by continuing uncertainty around Greece's future and on the heels of mixed foreign trade numbers overnight from China. The Footsie is a fraction lower at 6,802, while its a similar story across the midcaps and wider market, whjere the FTSE 250 is trading at 17,930, and the FTSE All-Shares at

On a thin day for corporate newsflow, London's FTSE 100 falls another 37.98 points to 6,873.82 on Monday, tracking global market falls following a better-than-expected US jobs report on Friday. This has renewed speculation that a US rate rise may occur in the summer and is giving investors the jitters.One stock with wind in its sails is shipping services group Clarkson (CKN), which rises 5.2% high

Marketing performance analyst Ebiquity (EBQ:AIM) is a growth story - adjusted pre-tax profits have increased at a compound annual growth rate of 32.5% over the last five years - but its valuation does not reflect this trajectory.Based on stockbroker Numis' 11p earnings per share forecast for the April 2016 financial year the shares trade on a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.7. That's very low for a

President poised for newsFindings from a flow test on oil explorer President Energy's (PPC:AIM) Lapacho well in Paraguay could be an early Christmas present for shareholders. Flow testing has commenced with initial results expected within 10 days. These should help reveal if the £103 million cap is sitting on a commercial find. (TS)Gaming concerns hit Macau fundMacau Property Opportunities Fund's

UK stocks open largely flat on Monday with markets pausing for breath after hitting a two-month high last week. The FTSE 100 is trading roughly 4 points higher at 6,754 in early deals, with oilfield services group Petrofac (PFC) providing a drag after a profit warning.The index finished Friday at 6,750.76, a closing level not surpassed since 22 September when it reached 6,773.63.Oil services giant

Strong gains across the mining sector fail to stem overall negative sentiment on London markets in early trading, the FTSE 100 slipping 48 points to 6,515. Airlines lead the Footsie loser board, with both Easyjet (EZJ) and International Consolidated Airlines (IAG) down 3.8% to £14.11 and 3.7% to 357.6p respectively.But the big news today comes from the revelation that FTSE 100 miner and commodity