After a weak morning session, UK shares recovered over the course of the afternoon to close at the highs of the day thanks to a rally in banks and other financial stocks which more than offset further falls in house builders and weakness in retailers. Gold was down 0.2% at $1,823 an ounce while Brent crude was 0.2% higher at $84.35 a barrel. Sterling continued its advance against the dollar, up ...

After a weak session in Asia overnight, UK shares recovered from their morning lows to trade sideways at lunchtime as banks and other financial stocks crept higher, offsetting further falls in house builders and weakness in retailers. Gold was down 0.2% at $1,823 an ounce while Brent crude was 0.2% higher at $84.35 a barrel. Sterling continued its advance against the dollar, up another 0.2% to ...

The FTSE 100 closed Wednesday’s session with a modest gain, edging 0.16% higher to 7,516.87 points on ongoing optimism over the impact of the less severe Omicron strain and support from a solid ADP private sector payrolls report across the pond, which prepared investors for a decent non-farm payrolls print on Friday. Blue chip miners Rio Tinto (RIO) and BHP (BHP), banks Lloyds (LLOY) and ...

London’s FTSE 100 closed Thursday’s session 1.25% higher at 7,260.61, the blue chip benchmark taking the Bank of England’s surprise interest rate hike from 0.1% to 0.25% in its stride, despite sterling gaining as a result. Around 70% of the FTSE’s constituents earn in foreign currencies so a rising pound is negative for them. The central bank was widely expected to keep rates on hold ...

The FTSE 100 managed to hold onto most of its earlier gains despite a surprise interest rate hike from the Bank of England which pushed up the pound. Around 70% of the FTSE’s constituents earn in foreign currencies so a rising pound is negative for them. The central bank was widely expected to keep rates on hold due to the uncertainty created by the Omicron variant. However, it has acted ...

Shares in NatWest (NWG) moved 1.5% higher to 217.6p despite being fined more than £264 million for anti-money-laundering failures that involved deposits of bin liners stuffed full of cash. The bank has been fined £264,772,620, and ordered to pay £4,297,466 in costs. This ruling, linked to its failure to monitor the activities of a specific customer, a Bradford jewellery ...

UK stocks opened higher on Tuesday as unemployment fell and investors continued to await interest-rate decisions due later in the week from a host of central banks. The UK jobless rate fell to 4.2%, down from 4.3% previously, with the claimant count falling by a better-than-expected 49,700. After falling back around 60 points on Monday, the FTSE 100 has recovered some of the lost ground in ...

Our latest review of the best and worst earnings revisions across the FTSE 350 throws up a few surprises in terms of sectors and individual stocks, particularly in the light of their relative performance. There are three distinct clusters of winners, split between investment, real estate and consumer discretionary companies. Among the investment companies, Molten Ventures ...

Both the FTSE 100 index of leading shares and the mid-cap FTSE 250 Index ended Wednesday’s trading session in negative territory as concerns regarding UK inflationary pressures mounted. The CPI (consumer price index) rose to a near 10 year high in October of 4.2% from 3.1% in September and is likely to increase further during the rest of the year. Weakness in US equity markets also weighed ...

Shares in NatWest Group (NWG) and Lloyds Bank (LLOY) were in demand on Wednesday following the release of the latest UK inflation figures. These suggest that the monetary policy committee will raise interest rates at their next meeting on Thursday 16th December. Shares in Lloyds Bank and NatWest Group were trading 1.4% and 1.52% higher at 50.69p and 226.8p respectively. The CPI (consumer ...

London’s major stocks opened modestly lower as the inflation genie continues to work its way out of the bottle, although banks defied the gravitational pull. At 9am, the benchmark FTSE 100 was 0.13% down at 7,317.61 after UK inflation rose to its highest in almost a decade. But there was plenty of demand for bank stocks, seen as benefitting from an increasingly likely rise in interest ...

Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey may have earned the tag of an ‘unreliable boyfriend’ after the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee confounded market expectations and kept interest rates at record lows at its latest meeting (4 Nov), but the message was clear: rate rises are coming. Mounting inflation means the Bank of England must do something and investors need to be prepared. In ...

The promise of a quick return to form at fast-fashion chain Primark saw investors pile into owner Associated British Foods (ABF) in early trading on Tuesday, but FTSE 100 gains were capped by weakness in UK banks. Barclays (BARC), HSBC (HSBA), Lloyds (LLOY) and NatWest (NWG) were all off by varying degrees. Leading shares have indeed made an underwhelming start as the downbeat mood of the ...

London’s FTSE 100 finished 0.43% higher at 7,279.91 points on Thursday after the Bank of England confounded market expectations by keeping interest rates on hold, while still warning a hike is coming soon. Banks were the big casualties with Barclays (BARC), Lloyds (LLOY), NatWest (NWG) and HSBC (HSBA) all marked lower as hopes they would see an increase in lending margins were dashed, for the ...

Is there a harder job in the corporate world than managing one of the UK’s big four banks? Barclays’ (BARC) current head of global markets CS Venkatakrishnan, or Venkat, for short is about to find out – subject to regulatory approval. Those last four words sum up the situation the sector has found itself in ever since the financial crisis of 2007/8 – with the relevant authorities ...

The UK equity market continued to trade lower by lunchtime on Friday with the FTSE 100 off 0.25% at 7,231.48 points and the FTSE 250 falling by 0.23% to 23,145.67. The market was uninspired by NatWest’s (NWG) third quarter results, with market weakness compounded by supply chain-related warnings from technology leviathans Apple and Amazon. Fantasy miniatures maker Games Workshop ...

NatWest (NWG) were stung as the bank’s share price plunged nearly 5% to 219.9p despite third quarter results beating consensus forecasts. The high street bank reported pre-tax profit of £1,074 million, smashing the £677 million expected by analysts, while earnings per share similarly outstripped estimates, at 5.8p versus 3.4p. Investors appear to have taken to heart the adage that it ...

UK stocks retreated in early trading with just half a dozen FTSE names trading up on last night’s close heading into the weekend. At 8.30am the benchmark was 26 points or 0.35% lower at 7,223 points, almost exactly where it closed on Monday. Overnight, US markets ended at record highs but weak earnings from tech giants Amazon and Apple after the close sent index futures lower signalling a ...

UK bank stocks were unmoved by headlines in the Financial Times that Chancellor Rishi Sunak, will use next week’s budget to announce his intention to reduce the UK bank corporation tax surcharge from 8% to 3% from April 2023. Shares in Lloyds (LLOY), NatWest (NWG), HSBC (HSBA), and Barclays (BARC), all drifted marginally lower in line with the FTSE 100 index. This is not a complete surprise ...

The double-digit discount to net asset at Henderson Opportunities Trust (HOT) looks unjustified given its long-term track record. Trading 14.7% below its NAV, the investment trust has delivered a total return of 318.5% over the last 10 years. This puts it near the top of the AIC’s UK All Companies category in terms of performance and yet it offers the largest discount. A focus on UK ...