After a strong morning session, lifted by hopes of further fiscal stimulus in the US, UK stocks gave up most of their day’s gains on Thursday as momentum was undermined by weak economic data and a sharp fall in oil prices. At the close the FTSE 100 index was up just 13 points or 0.2% to 5,879, with Brent oil prices tumbling 5% to $40 per barrel which sent shares in big oil stocks BP (BP.) and ...

Despite Wall Street heading higher on stimulus package hopes on Wednesday afternoon, helping European markets to regain their footing, the FTSE 100 finished 0.53% lower at 5,866.10. Weighing on sentiment was the latest data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which revealed UK GDP dropped 19.8% in the second quarter of this year, better than the first estimate of 20.4%. Despite the ...

London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.6% to 6,179 on Thursday, an 11-week high, driven by early signs of a pick-up in business sentiment fuelled by hopes of a post lockdown economic rebound. The mid-cap index was 0.7% higher at 17,262. Shares were higher across Asia overnight with Japan’s Nikkei 225 2.3% up and the China’s SSE composite 0.3% ahead, while the tensions in Hong Kong pushed stocks there ...

A founder cashing in and two finance directors buying and selling shares are among the most significant director deals of the past week. The biggest deal comes from Paypoint (PAY) founder Tim Waktin-Rees and his spouse Eve Watkin-Ress, who sold just under 500,000 shares in a series of transactions, at an average price of 973p for a total amount of £4.9m. Paypoint shares have had a bit of a ...

The FTSE 100 got off to a slow start this morning after US president Donald Trump signed into law a bill backing Hong Kong’s protesters. Stock markets around the world fell sharply on the news, fearing that China will retaliate. Beijing has consistently warned the US and other countries against interfering in what it sees as its internal affairs. The UK’s benchmark index no different to ...

The FTSE 100 opens marginally lower at 7,304 on Thursday after the Prime Minister was boxed in by Parliament overnight. MPs from both sides blocked both a no-deal Brexit and a call for a snap election. In addition a number of stocks are trading ex-dividend today, dragging on the index. After the close last night FTSE Russell announced its quarterly index review, making three changes to the FTSE ...

If you are new to stock market investing you may still have heard of the FTSE 100. It frequently appears on TV news bulletins and in the papers, its relative direction up or down giving viewers/readers a steer as to how the UK economy is going and how optimistic, or not, investors feel about the nation’s prospects. By contrast, the FTSE 350 the has a very low profile and seldom gets a mention ...

Luxury sports cars maker Aston Martin Lagonda (AML) has issued a profit warning on Wednesday blaming pressure on its caused by ongoing economic uncertainty, much of which is being caused by Brexit unknowns. Shares in the company crashed 23% to 799.8p with full guidance for full year car volumes and earnings cut, and worryingly, hinting that things may yet get worse. ‘We anticipate that ...

Crowd funding business Funding Circle (FCH) spooked investors after halving revenue growth guidance on 2 July. Its shares tanked 20% to 132p as it warned that demand for small business loans had weakened. Because we still don’t know whether the Government will strike a deal with the EU, it is likely that entrepreneurs are nervous about borrowing to grow start-ups. Stockbroker Numis thinks ...

The number of deals involving stocks being bought by third party investors from the troubled Woodford Equity Income Fund (BLRZQ73) is picking up pace. Dealing in the fund is currently suspended while fund manager Neil Woodford restructures the portfolio, selling the most illiquid holdings and reducing exposure to many other stocks in an effort to raise cash to meet redemptions and be able to ...

The latest quarterly shuffling of the deck in the FTSE 100 list of blue-chip companies and the FTSE 250 index of mid-cap stocks sees a significant amount of change. To qualify for inclusion in the FTSE 100 index a stock needs to meet certain liquidity requirements and have a sufficiently large market capitalisation to rank in the top 100 companies. Stocks which fail to meet these criteria ...

UK stocks fall in line with continental Europe and US index futures as worries over the strength of the US economy begin to weigh on sentiment. In early trade the FTSE 100 index gives up almost 2% to 6,792.10, a new two-year low, while the FTSE 250 gives up 1.5% to a low for the year of 17,995 points. Tomorrow sees the release of three closely-watched indicators of the health of the US economy ...

Shares in payment technology firm PayPoint (PAY) have jumped 7% to 850p following the release of better-than-expected first half results. Despite a technical disruption in July which impacted a third of its UK retail network, total revenues were still up 8.7% to £106m in the six months to 30 September. Operating profits rose 4% to £25.5m. INSTALLATIONS ACCELERATE Part of the increase ...

The FTSE 100 opens up 43 points at 7,434.69 as a busy day of corporate news starts with ITV leading the way. Free-to-air broadcaster ITV (ITV) sees its shares rise 3.8% to 181.4p despite a 10.4% drop in pre-tax profits to £381m in the six months to 30 June. Total revenues of £1,697m are down from £1,712m a year ago but the company says its results are very much as it anticipated and its ...

Investors in convenience store payment specialist PayPoint (PAY) should be aware of growing risks to the investment case, as reflected by a weak share price since April. Full year results on 25 May perhaps represent a turning point for the business. Net revenue was flat at £123.9m and adjusted operating profit nudged ahead by 4% to £52.3m. The mobile payments business has been sold and ...

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A new deal with joint venture partner Yodel adds a scoop of brandy sauce on to the tasty Christmas pudding that is PayPoint (PAY). After a year-long stand-off on how to take forward Collect+ – the click, collect and returns parcels service at local shops – the partners have agreed on a new license-based model. In 2015, Yodel pushed through price increases in the 50:50 partnership which ...

UK mid cap index the FTSE 250 hit a new record this week – and analysts at investment bank Liberum say the rally could have further to run in a number of stocks. The FTSE 250 went through its May 2015 peak on 4 October 2016, hitting 18,590 at the time of writing. But analysts at Liberum say increases in the index’s value may not be keeping up with earnings upgrades. In September, for ...

Investors struggling with a mixed dividend outlook in the UK may be able to benefit from Evenlode’s sustainable dividend report, which details 10 market-leading companies with sustainable dividends. Several companies have cut their dividend payout over the last year, including BHP Billiton (BLT), Centrica (CNA), Standard Chartered (STAN), Barclays (BARC), Rolls-Royce (RR.) and Tesco ...

Company dividends are coming under increasing scrutiny across the post-Brexit vote UK stock market. Payouts from even traditional income safe havens are even being called in to question. Weak commodity prices, the slowing China economy and a banking sector in turmoil remain key concerns. The looming threat of recession in the UK is also rearing its ugly head as the real implications of ...