The FTSE 100 finished Tuesday’s trading session 0.71% lower at 7,059.45 points and the FTSE 250 index shed 1.04% to 22,519.72, as markets continued to worry about the potential impacts of the ominously-named new Covid variant, Omicron. Sentiment weakened after Moderna chief executive Stephane Bancel cast doubts over the efficacy of existing vaccines against the coronavirus variant, although ...

Storms clouds are gathering for consumer spending. Thirty-six stocks in the FTSE All-Share index from the retail, travel and leisure sectors have underperformed the FTSE All-Share’s 2% gain over the past three months, according to SharePad data. In comparison, only 18 stocks from these sectors beat the index over the same period. The market is essentially saying that earnings prospects for ...

Shares in Marks & Spencer (MKS) surged 15% higher to 224p after the retail bellwether swung into profit for the first half as demand recovered following the easing of Covid-19 lockdowns. The high street stalwart also delivered a massive full year earnings upgrade amid improving performances across its food and clothing and home businesses, with investors welcoming news of significantly ...

London’s FTSE 100 finished Wednesday’s trading session 0.36% lower at 7,248.89 points as investors fretted over interest rates and oil majors Royal Dutch Shell (RDSB) and BP (BP.) weighed on the blue chip benchmark, the shares off 1.75% to £16.29 and 2.9% to 334.85p respectively. The US Federal Reserve was set to announce its rates decision later on Wednesday, with the Bank of England ...

London’s FTSE 100 traded lower by midday on Wednesday, the blue chip benchmark marked down 0.4% to 7,246.42, as nervousness built ahead of two key central bank decisions. The US Federal Reserve was set to announce its rates decision later on Wednesday, with the Bank of England following on Thursday. Overnight, US equity markets were firmer with the Nasdaq Composite edging 0.34% higher at ...

High street retail bellwether Next (NXT) once again delivered a better-than-expected trading update for the third quarter to 30 October as it reported full price sales up 14% in the past five weeks. This beat the 10% forecast given with September’s first half results yet investors proved hard to please. Shares in the clothing-to-homewares retailer lost nearly 3% to £80.80 as it maintained ...

Investors appeared to be keeping their powder dry on Wednesday ahead of key interest rate decisions, from the US Federal Reserve later today, and Bank of England tomorrow. At 9am, the benchmark FTSE 100 was trading 0.25% lower at 7256.74, although mid-caps managed modest gains, the FTSE 250 nudging 0.07% higher to 23,156.07. Overnight, US equity markets were firmer with the Nasdaq Composite ...

It’s hard to think of a more disastrous investor event than THG’s (THG) capital markets day (12 Oct). This was supposed to be an opportunity to reignite excitement around the company’s Ingenuity e-commerce platform but it backfired spectacularly, prompting a 35% intra-day plunge in the shares. On the face of it, Ingenuity is a relatively simple concept often compared with online ...

A good deal of the excitement surrounding e-commerce play The Hut Group, aka THG (THG), is linked to its Ingenuity logistics and technology platform. This is an end-to-end solution offered to third parties in the same way Ocado’s (OCDO) online groceries platform is sold to global supermarkets. But hiding within established retailer Next (NXT) is a little-known platform business of its own ...

Retail has been at war with itself for at least the past decade as old-style bricks and mortar businesses tried to keep up with the new kids on the online block. Big names like BHS and Toys R Us vanished from high streets and retail parks, others like New Look underwent brutal CVAs, which is a way for companies in distress to pay off their debts over a fixed period of time. Established ...

If online retailers were among the big winners of 2020, many have endured considerable bad luck in 2021 with share prices slumping across parts of the fast fashion sector. Boohoo (BOO:AIM) and ASOS (ASC:AIM) have been seen their share prices fall by nearly 40% year to date. Zara-owner Inditex and Next (NXT) have bucked the trend with double-digit share price gains. Quiz (QUIZ:AIM) has ...

The FTSE 100 finished higher on Wednesday, retracing the losses from Tuesday’s sell-off amid a jump in financials and as AstraZeneca (AZN) and Next (NXT) rallied following M&A and trading updates, respectively. The benchmark FTSE 100 ended the day 1.14% up at 7,108.16, and while worries over inflation, energy and supply chain issues will remain on the market’s mind, the index is chock ...

Shares in clothing and homewares retailer Next (NXT) topped the FTSE 100 leader board in early trading, the shares jumping 4% to £84 after the firm raised its sales and earnings outlook for the year to next April. In its fulsome first half earnings release, high street stalwart Next recorded an 8.8% increase in brand full-price sales compared with the first half of 2019, which the firm says is ...

The UK equity markets started Wednesday’s trading session on a firmer footing, recovering some of yesterday’s losses, despite a poor performance from US equity markets. Asian markets were mixed with the Shenzhen and Nikkei indices both recording losses. The Hang Seng Index managed to record a modest gain. Concerns regarding supply chain disruptions, and elevated oil price and the ...

Shares in homewares retailer Dunelm (DNLM) were marked down in July despite raised profit guidance, as plans to ramp up investment spend spurred some investors to take profit after a phenomenal run. Yet the pullback proved short-lived, as the cash-generative curtains, quilts and kitchenware purveyor topped the FTSE 250 after rolling out (8 Sep) superb results for the year ended 26 June ...

After years of false dawns, it appears British retailer Marks & Spencer (MKS) is finally regaining its mojo. Shares believes this is a great time to invest in the retail bellwether, which could be in the foothills of an earnings upgrades cycle, with half-year results in November offering the next potential catalyst for the share price. The FTSE 250 retailer’s shares jumped following ...

London’s FTSE 100 rallied for the second successive day following Monday’s correction, climbing on hopes that central banks might maintain support for the global economy for longer given rising Covid infections as well as a number of positive corporate updates. By the close, the blue chip benchmark finished 1.7% higher at 6,998.28 points, its recovery from a tough start to the week ...

London’s FTSE 100 was in recovery mode on Wednesday after the recent big sell-off, gaining as several companies reported positive results. By midday, the blue chip benchmark was up 1.6% to 6,990.22 points. UK shares were buoyed as official figures showed the Government borrowed less than expected with the budget deficit coming in at £69.5 billion in the three months to June, helped by the ...

Shares in retail bellwether Next (NXT) topped the FTSE 100 leader board on Wednesday after the clothing and homeware purveyor increased full year profit guidance in a trading update pulled forward by a fortnight. Sales during the last 11 weeks have been ‘materially ahead of our expectations’ said Next, whose shares were bid up 9.7% to £81.14 on yet another profit upgrade and the news it is ...

UK stocks opened higher on Wednesday as official figures showed the Government borrowed less than expected with the budget deficit coming in at £69.5 billion in the three months to June, helped by the reopening of the economy. The Office for Budget Responsibility had forecast the deficit to reach £92.7 billion in March. Trading in Asia was strong with the Nikkei 225 gaining 0.7% and ...