UK stocks eked out relatively modest gains in early trading on Monday as investors weighed signs of economic recovery with a potential resurgence in coronavirus cases. At 0825, the benchmark FTSE 100 index was up 13.71 points, or 0.2%, at 6,173.01. Mining company Rio Tinto (RIO) shed 0.9% to £44.95, even as it reached an agreement with the government of Mongolia on a new source of domestic ...

UK were firmer at the open on Monday, taking their cue from positive grey market trading on Wall Street and strong Asian gains, after the Bank of Japan expanded its monetary stimulus again. The benchmark FTSE 100 rallied a fraction off 100 point, or 1.7%, to 5,851.95, while the mid cap FTSE 250 charged 2% higher at 15,996.93. Asia markets have got off to a positive start as a raft of ...

UK mid-cap stocks powered ahead on 'Brexit day' with the FTSE 250 index gaining 86 points or 0.4% to 21,378. The pound also gained to €1.19, which is good for domestic stocks. Meanwhile the FTSE 100 was down 0.3% or 25 points to 7,362 as Asian-exposed stocks including Diageo (DGE), HSBC (HSBA), Rio Tinto (RIO) and Standard Chartered (STAN) weighed on the index. US tech shares advanced ...

In 2019 UK companies have issued more profit warnings than at any time since the financial crisis. Research from accountant EY found that until September, 235 firms had already sounded the alarm. This year has also seen household names like Thomas Cook and Debenhams depart the stock market in disgrace. It is not hard to see why businesses have become more accident-prone given Brexit ...

The FTSE 100 was up 0.2% to 7,542.81 with sterling remaining under pressure on the revelation the new Conservative government plans to legislate against an extension to the Brexit transition period. Education group Pearson (PSON) gained 3% to 663p on news that it had agreed to sell its remaining 25% stake in book publisher Penguin Random House to partner Bertelsmann for around $675m ...

In 2019 UK companies have issued more profit warnings than at any time since the financial crisis. Research from accountant EY found that until September, 235 firms had already sounded the alarm. This year has also seen household names like Thomas Cook and Debenhams depart the stock market in disgrace. It is not hard to see why businesses have become more accident-prone given Brexit ...

UK small cap companies are dead cheap, claim managers of the popular Invesco Perpetual UK Smaller Companies Investment Trust (IPU). ‘Equity valuations within the smaller companies sector are well below their 20 year average and we believe there is potential to make money even in this highly uncertain environment’, insisted Jonathan Brown and Robin West, joint fund managers of the Invesco ...

Shares in recruitment and training firm Staffline (STAF:AIM) drop 6% to 154p on Monday after it announces that auditors PricewaterhouseCoopers LLC (PcW) have resigned from 1 August. Part of the reason for PwC’s decision is that Staffline is launching a competitive tender process for the position of auditor. However it also says that ‘matters connected with (the) resignation that need to be ...

The FTSE100 is nudging higher after a report in the South China Post hinted that the US and China had reached a tentative truce in their on-going trade dispute. The index of the top 100 shares gains three points to 7,419 in early trade. Banks, builders and miners are leading the index, up 0.72%, 0.63% and 0.95% respectively, while tobacco, down 1.2%, and personal goods, down 0.82%, are a drag ...

Shares in recruitment and training group Staffline (STAF:AIM) slide 30% to a new low of 168p after it revises up the negative impact on its 2018 and 2019 results due to non-compliance with the National Minimum Wage (NWM) Regulations, scraps its dividend and asks investors for more cash. Staffline shares were suspended at 670p the end of January after losing a third of their value in a day as ...

UK investors begin the week with takeover talk to digest after defence contractor Babcock (BAB) admits it turned down approaches of a tie-up from outsourcing peer Serco (SRP). There is also a strategy overhaul reported by troubled construction firm Kier (KIE) and a profit warning from German airline Lufthansa to mull, the latter hurting UK listed airlines that have been struggling with rising ...

UK companies this year issued the highest number of first quarter profit warnings since the financial crisis, says consultant E&Y. The number of warnings was up more than 20% year-on-year as companies were hit by domestic Brexit-related uncertainty as well as global growth fears. It can be painful for shareholders when a company downgrades profit expectations but not all profit alerts ...

Travel operator Thomas Cook (TCG) was battling all-time lows at the time of writing to trade a little above 12p. These lows were marked in response to a truly horrible set of figures for the six months to 31 March published on 16 May and showing a £1.45bn loss, with debt climbing over the £1bn mark. Panic over the financial position was exacerbated by research from Citigroup where it ...

Shares in Staffline (STAF:AIM) have collapsed to multi-year lows after the recruitment and training firm put out a massive profit warning as trading slumps in the first quarter on Brexit woes. At 10am the stock is trading at 400p, a staggering 52% down on the 838p at which the stock closed on Thursday. The company's core recruitment business has been hit by a wave of negative sentiment ...

After a week dominated by ongoing tariff talks between the US and China and their impact on global trade, Brexit worries have again resurfaced to drag on UK investor sentiment. The UK's benchmark gets off to a shaky start to early trading on Friday, declining around 16 points to 7,337, but the market mood is not being helped by new emerging threats to FTSE 100 food delivery business Just Eat ...

The board of struggling fashion brand Superdry (SDRY) came out fighting with a scathing statement rebutting claims made by charismatic co-founder Julian Dunkerton as he bids to return to the business. Currently led by chief executive Euan Sutherland, the board said its strategy was working and argued Dunkerton’s return ‘in any capacity’ would be ‘extremely damaging to the ...

Stocks get off to a better start on Wednesday on hopes that MPs will vote against a ‘no-deal Brexit’ in the House of Commons later today. The FTSE 100 index of leading stocks adds 0.3% to 7,151 points led by BP (BP.), Reckitt Benckiser (RB.) and Rentokil (RTO). Top gainer on the FTSE is Standard Life Aberdeen (SLA) which rises 3% to 253p on news that Keith Skeoch has been appointed as ...

Shares in recruitment firm Staffline (STAF:AIM) jump 25% to 838p on their re-admission to trading on Tuesday after being suspended for more than a month. That still leaves them well below the £10 level before they were suspended but it is a fair reward for the company’s clear, concise explanation of the events leading up to and after the suspension. READ MORE ABOUT STAFFLINE HERE SHOOT ...

Shares in blue-collar recruitment firm Staffline (STAF:AIM) remain suspended at 670p this morning at the company’s request after losing a third of their value yesterday. Staffline shares fell 330p or 33%, wiping over £90m off its market value, after the company delayed the release of its full year results. Following the suspension of the shares yesterday afternoon the company released a ...

UK water industry stocks are rallying in early trade on Thursday after the three UK listed firms – Severn Trent (SVT), United Utilities (UU.) and Pennon (PNN) – see their business plans win watchdog approval. That sends sector share prices rallying having removed a hefty unknown for investors, led by the 1.5% rise at United Utilities to 832p, the UK’s largest water company. The ...