UK stocks dropped sharply on Friday as the sell-off in bonds continued to rattle investors, not only wiping out the previous week's gains but wiping out the entire month's gains. Overnight the S&P 500 and Nasdaq indices fell by 2.5% and 3.5% respectively, triggering the sharpest sell-off in Asian markets for nine months with Japan’s Nikkei 225 dropping 4% and China’s SE Composite ...

UK stocks dropped sharply on Friday as the sell-off in bonds continued to rattle global equity markets. Overnight the S&P 500 and Nasdaq indices fell by 2.5% and 3.5% respectively. That triggered the sharpest sell-off in Asian markets for nine months with Japan’s Nikkei 225 dropping 4% and China’s SE Composite falling 2%. The sell-off spilled-over into commodities with Brent Crude ...

UK stocks dropped on Friday as the sell-off in bonds continued to rattle global equity markets. Asian markets fell by the most in nine months with Japan’s Nikkei 225 dropping 4% and China’s SE Composite falling 2%. The sell-off spilled-over into commodities with Brent Crude down 1% to $65 a barrel. Gold fell 0.2% to $1,766 an ounce. At 9am the FTSE 100 of leading shares was down 0.4% at ...

Property portal OnTheMarket (OTMP:AIM) reported a return to profitability as the housing market continued to recover. The company reported a £0.7 million pre-tax profit for the six months to 31 July, compared to a £7 million pre-tax loss in the same period a year ago. Revenue rose 28% to £10.2 million. The firm said it managed to swing to profitability thanks to cost-cutting measures ...

There are some great stocks across the Atlantic but you pay an increasingly high price for them. In this article we will explain why investors on the hunt for growth could look closer to home, casting their gaze across the Channel to Europe. LITTLE MARGIN FOR ERROR UK retail investors seeking ‘quality growth’ stocks outside these shores have been avid buyers of US stocks for several ...

Shares in housebuilder Persimmon (PSN) rallied 5.1% to £27.46 after it boosted recovery hopes in the sector, restoring its dividend following an ‘excellent start’ to the second half of the year. The FTSE 100 stalwart said better than expected demand for its homes had allowed it to reinstate the payout it had suspended in late March, with investors set to receive 40p per share. House ...

According to property portal Rightmove (RMV) the last four weeks has seen the highest number of agreed house sales on its platform in a single month since it started tracking the data over a decade ago, helped by a waiver on stamp duty on houses worth £500,000 or less. The firm believes ‘the rulebook has been rewritten as the post-lockdown mini-boom accelerates rather than slows down.’ The ...

The resilience of the UK housing market has been one of the notable features as we moved out of lockdown and into the next phase of the pandemic. This was reflected in recent first half results from property site Rightmove (RMV) which saw the company reveal that between the beginning of June and end of July demand for sales properties was 50% higher than the same period in 2019. In lockdown ...

UK stocks traded largely unchanged at the close on Friday as investors shrugged off better than expected US non-farm payroll figures and a slew of positive earnings surprises from companies. At 4.35pm the benchmark FTSE 100 index inched up 5 points to 6,032 as weakness in banks, energy stocks and mining firms offset a strong performance by companies reporting earnings. WINNERS Generic ...

UK stocks traded marginally lower on Friday as investors mulled growing trade tensions and markets awaited the latest US non-farm payroll figures for an insight into the world’s leading economy. At midday the benchmark FTSE 100 index edged down 5 points to 6,022 as weakness in banks and energy stocks offset a strong performance by companies reporting earnings. WINNERS Generic drugs ...

Property listings site Rightmove (RMV) was one of the top risers in the FTSE 100 this morning after seeing a stronger than expected recovery in the housing market. Its shares gained over 9% to 630p after the company said home hunter demand has been strong since its customers started re-opening their businesses from 13 May, supported by changes in consumer needs and the recent announcement of ...

It was a slow start to trading in shares on Friday as rising Covid-19 cases and US-China tensions dented sentiment at the end of a week marked by largely upbeat quarterly earnings and improving economic data. The benchmark FTSE 100 opened a fraction lower in subdued trading, nudging 0.03% lower to 6,025.37, but remains on course for its first weekly gain in three as investors bet on more ...

Global smaller companies investment trust Smithson (SSON) smashed its benchmark in the first half of this year, outperforming  by a wide margin despite market turmoil due to the coronavirus pandemic. In its financial report for the six months to 30 June, the trust says its net asset value (NAV) per share total return was +15.3% compared to a 4.7% decline in the benchmark MSCI World Small- and ...

The decision by chancellor Rishi Sunak to temporarily waive stamp duty on the purchase of homes up to the value of £500,000 in England and Northern Ireland until the end of March 2021 has reignited the housing market after months of hibernation caused by the coronavirus. Since the announcement on 8 July, shares in the housebuilders have mostly beaten the FTSE All-Share index with gains of ...

UK stocks eased on Monday ahead of the latest round of talks with the European Union regarding Britain’s post-Brexit trading relationship with the bloc. Early confidence that a deal could be reached quickly has ebbed, with the two sides seemingly as far apart as ever. Sterling was steady against the US dollar at $1.2560 while Brent crude futures fell for a third session to $42.75 and gold ...

In the previous part of this series we defined what a share was, how you can generate a return by investing in them and how this return can be made up both of dividends and capital gains. In this article we turn to the menu from which you can pick shares. After all, shares come in different sizes, shapes and flavours just like the dishes you choose in a restaurant or from a takeaway ...

Property listings website Rightmove (RMV) fell 3% to 571.6p as it reported unprecedented levels of activity on its site as the housing market moved out of hibernation but also said it would extend discounts for its estate agency client base. Upstart rival OnTheMarket (OTMP:AIM) gained 5.4% to 82.75p as it provided its own update and also extended its cut-price offer to agents. Rightmove said ...

The FTSE 100 climbed on Tuesday morning after US president Donald Trump confirmed the US-China trade deal is ‘fully intact’. Trump moved quickly to calm worries after one of his top China trade advisers, Peter Navarro, initially said in an interview with Fox News the deal was ‘over’ – sending Dow Jones futures and the Chinese Yuan plummeting – before backtracking and claiming his ...

The housing market is emerging from hibernation but as investors in directly related sectors like housebuilders and estate agents count the cost of lockdown they have seen a significant divergence in share price performance. There are a number of factors behind these disparities. A look at the table of year-to-date performance suggests that financial strength has been a clear dividing line but ...

The coronavirus crisis has had an unprecedented impact on the UK property market, as viewings and sales ground to a halt and the market stalled during lockdown. Activity is now starting to resume, but at a slow pace and with a number of big changes that househunters and sellers will have to adapt to. So what does that means if you’re trying to buy a property or sell your pad? WHAT ...