It?s been a busy month in small-cap land with good news, bad news and downright weird news for investors to digest.First the good news, as the persistent undervaluation of UK companies ? and small caps in particular ? draws increasing numbers of corporate buyers.Financial services software provider Gresham Technologies (GHT) agreed a 163p per share cash offer from funds managed or advised by STG P

European stocks closed lower on Tuesday, after the long Easter holiday weekend and a day full of economic data.The FTSE 100 index closed down 17.53 points, 0.2%, at 7,935.09. The FTSE 250 ended down 170.84 points, 0.9%, at 19,713.89, and the AIM All-Share closed down 0.86 of a point, 0.1%, at 742.40.The Cboe UK 100 ended down 0.3% at 793.40, the Cboe UK 250 closed down 1.1% at 17,147.56, and the C

The FTSE 100 got a boost in London on Tuesday at midday, thanks to the UK manufacturing sector returning growth in March.The FTSE 100 index was up 23.76 points, 0.3%, at 7,976.38. The FTSE 250 was down 58.37 points, 0.3%, at 19,826.36, and the AIM All-Share was up 0.40 of a point at 743.66.The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.2% at 797.51, the Cboe UK 250 was down 0.7% at 17,220.34, and the Cboe Small Compani

Equities in London were on the back foot on Wednesday afternoon, as unease in markets continued amid a less favourable US interest rate outlook.It would be a ?mistake? for the US Federal Reserve to start cutting interest rates too soon, despite its recent progress against inflation, a senior Fed official said Tuesday.On Tuesday, Cleveland Fed president Loretta Mester, who is a voting member of the

Shares were lower at midday on Wednesday and the pound was slumping toward $1.18, after comments by US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Tuesday sent markets scrambling to reset interest rate expectations.The central bank chief signalled that the central bank may pick up the pace of interest rate rises at its next policy meeting.'It was the news investors didn't want to hear, but deep down ha

Stock prices in London closed higher on Monday, despite some gloomy data out of the UK, as a strong performance from oil stocks and miners helped lift the FTSE 100.The FTSE 100 index closed up 29.19 points, or 0.4%, at 7,361.31. The FTSE 250 ended up 60.48 points, or 0.3%, at 18,648.96, and the AIM All-Share closed up 1.07 points, or 0.1%, at 823.54.The Cboe UK 100 ended up 0.5% at 737.19, the Cbo

Stock prices in London closed the week firmly in red, despite some positive local data, following a series of interest rate hikes throughout the week.The FTSE 100 index closed down 94.05 points, or 1.3%, at 7,332.12 on Friday. The FTSE 250 was down 305.31 points, or 1.6%, at 18,588.48, and the AIM All-Share was down 5.98 points, or 0.7%, at 822.47.The Cboe UK 100 closed down 1.2% at 733.57, the Cb

UK stocks closed slightly higher on Monday, as gains in house builders were offset by weakness in mining shares. In the US, meme stocks were back in vogue with cinema group AMC gaining 18% while Blackberry and Gamestop added 8% and 7% respectively.At the close the FTSE 100 index of leading shares was up 0.1% at 7,077 points.COMPANY NEWSOffice property owner IWG revealed that the anticipated recove

UK stocks hit session highs at midday Monday, helped by a jump in housing builders after data showed domestic house price growth approached seven-year highs last month. Shares in Persimmon (PSN), Taylor Wimpey (TW.) and Barratt Developments (BDEV) all gained over 2.5%. Meanwhile office space firm IWG (IWG) dropped after a profit warning.At 12pm the FTSE 100 index of leading shares was up 0.3% at 7

UK stocks eased on Monday as a drop in crude prices sent oil stocks lower and a warning from office workspace firm IWG (IWG) pressured property stocks.At 8.30am the FTSE 100 index was down 8 points at 7,061 with just a handful of house builders and Barclays (BARC) making gains.Oil prices retreated as investors awaited the outcome of talks between Iran and world leaders over a nuclear deal which co

London stock markets chalked-up the worst weekly performance since the 2008 financial crisis despite clawing back a fraction of lost territory in Friday trading as earlier strength flagged.The benchmark FTSE 100 index closed 2.5% up at 5,366.11 on Friday, cementing a near 18% weekly loss, the biggest since a 21% drop in October 2008. That slump made it the third week running of heavy declines as f

It may be unlucky for some but for UK investors Friday 13th provided welcome relief after a week of brutal losses which saw $8tn wiped off global markets.Governments in countries which have been hardest-hit by coronavirus, such as Italy and South Korea, have implemented bans on the short-selling of stocks in order to try to restore order to their respective markets.FTSE IN RECOVERY MODEHaving lost

London's FTSE 100 was on the front foot on Monday, the blue chip benchmark advancing 67 points higher to 7,184.2 early on, consolidating gains from Friday and building on a positive session in Asia with investors braced for a wave of monetary and fiscal stimulus.Despite ongoing warnings about the impact of a no-deal Brexit, investors focused on President Trump's reassurances that Washington and Ch

Investors appear to be regaining confidence after a volatile period last week with markets marching forward across the UK, mainland Europe and Asia on Monday morning, the FTSE 100 climbing 26.4 points higher to 7,040.3 and the FTSE 250 up almost 140 points at 18,729.Industrial components distributor Diploma (DPLM) ticks up 7.3% to £13.90 on strong full year results revealing 9% growth in adjusted

Typically people invest in small cap biotechnology and pharmaceutical stocks in the hope they can enjoy returns of many times their initial investment as the share price reacts to the discovery of the next wonder drug.However, stories like these are actually few and far between and lots of companies in this space instead burn through their cash quickly and end up going bust.Profitable businesses a

Wolseley's £100m restructuringBuilding products supplier Wolseley (WOS) plans to scale back its UK operations, cutting 80 branches and 800 jobs at a cost of £100 million. The move leads broker Jefferies to speculate the £10.4 billion cap may eventually become a US-only business. (TS)Goldman crushes oilGoldman Sachs has cut its forecast for US West Texas Intermediate oil from $50 per barrel to j

Drug discovery firm Redx Pharma (REDX) has received a welcome boost after discovering a series of compounds with the potential to create the first novel class of broad spectrum antibiotics in 30 years.Redx wants to use the compounds to develop a first-in-class treatment for urgent areas of high unmet medical need, triggering a share price rise of 8.3% to 59p.Scientists at the company have identifi

Investors should not get too excited by Redx Pharma's (REDX:AIM) latest update. Shares in the drug developer surged almost 13.5% higher to 36.9p before falling back to 35.2p after management said one of its candidates showed signs of fighting cancer.Pre-clinical tests highlight that Redx's Porcupine inhibitor could help improve the immune system's response in some cancer patients. This was the res

London's FTSE 100 rebounds on Monday, up 82.15 points to 6,792.43, recovering from Friday's banking stock-led falls. The market is drawing strength from a rally in Asian stocks triggered by a firmer oil price and brushing aside caution ahead of this week's Federal Reserve policy meeting.In corporate news, the session's main casualty is outsourcing giant Mitie (MTO), which slumps 26.5% to 197.6p fo

London's blue chip stocks open 0.5% higher at 6,169 on a busy day for corporate updates. Full-year reports from companies with March year-ends are coming thick and fast and and a general absence of profit warnings is being taken as a positive sign.Sterling is also in form, gaining around half a cent against the dollar to $1.454 after the latest EU referendum poll shows the 'Remain' camp has a 20 p