Full-year results to be published on 26 September from consumer goods firm PZ Cussons (PZC) come hot on the heels of the company's announcement that it plans to take full control of its Nigerian business.This decision may come under some scrutiny as the impact of the devaluation of the Nigerian naira could well mar the upcoming numbers. Volatility in the currency and the country itself has been a

Stock prices in London were lower at midday on Monday, as markets nervously eyed upcoming inflation data from the world's two largest economies, out on Wednesday and Thursday.The FTSE 100 index was down 55.72 points, 0.7%, at 7,508.65. The FTSE 250 was down 96.25 points, 0.5%, at 18,838.37, and the AIM All-Share was down 2.30 points, 0.3%, at 761.11.The Cboe UK 100 was down 0.7% at 749.00, the Cbo

London shares were mixed early Monday, with the FTSE 100 held back by a lower oil price, while the pound and equities more generally were taking comfort from a reassuring report on the state of the UK housing market.The FTSE 100 index opened down 10.01 points, or 0.1%, at 7,904.12. The FTSE 250 was up 9.87 points, or 0.1%, at 19,279.88, but the AIM All-Share was down 1.44 points, or 0.2%, at 828.8

The FTSE 100 proved resilient on Wednesday, finishing the month higher despite fears about a forthcoming recession in the UK, as other indexes came to a mixed close.The FTSE 100 index closed up 61.05 points, 0.8%, at 7,573.05. The FTSE 250 ended down 22.83 points, 0.1%, at 19,163.33, and the AIM All-Share closed up 4.37 points, 0.5%, at 848.59.The Cboe UK 100 ended 0.9% at 758.76, the Cboe UK 250

London's FTSE 100 rounded off a largely positive week with a sizeable gain on Friday, amid more hope of a roll-back of bruising zero-Covid measures in China, lifting shares in miners, Prudential and HSBC.The latter was also in focus after a major shareholder pushed for a break-up. Elsewhere in London, shares in carbon and ceramic materials manufacturer Morgan Advanced and furniture company DFS end

- First quarter performance ahead of expectations- 'Favourable' outlook- 72% of earnings enjoy inflation protectionThe recent volatility in energy prices failed to knock ContourGlobal (GLO) off course as the international power generation business performed ahead of expectations in the first quarter and the company pointed to a 'favourable' outlook.Revenue was up 52.6% to $652 million and the comp

Just why does consumer goods giant Unilever (ULVR) have a 10.5% stake in small cap clinical stage drug developer Arecor Therapeutics (AREC:AIM)?The company listed on AIM in June 2021 at 226p per share after raising £20 million of new capital.The shares have since gained 73% driven by positive results from a first phase trial of its ultra-concentrated rapid acting insulin product AT278.Arecor was

Oil and gas outfit Touchstone Exploration (TXP:AIM) fell 8.8% to 92.5p despite positive results from a third test on its Royston-1 well in Trinidad.The fall perhaps reflects recent volatility in the oil price and investors expecting more after the company reported very encouraging initial results from the well back in November. They now have to wait until some point in the first quarter of 2022 fo

Oil explorer Touchstone Exploration (TXP:AIM) gained 16.9% to 137.3p as the first of three planned production tests at an exploration well in Trinidad & Tobago confirmed a light oil discovery.Significantly, the find represented a new pool that had not been encountered in any of the regional offsetting wells.Touchstone shares started 2020 around the 20p mark but a string of drilling successes on it

FTSE closed lower on Friday as worries over spiking energy costs added to concerns about the slowing pace of recovery. However, the index of leading shares managed its first weekly gain since mid-August.COMPANY ROUND-UPDrug maker AstraZeneca (AZN) said its prostate cancer drug in combination with abiraterone developed with MSD, had met the primary goal of a phase 3 trial. Its shares advanced 2% to

A combination of weak UK consumer confidence, renewed fears about the Evergrande crisis and fretting about the outlook for interest rates put the FTSE 100 on the back foot on Friday.By midday the index was down 0.15% to 7,067.88.Drug maker AstraZeneca (AZN) said its prostate cancer drug in combination with abiraterone developed with MSD, had met the primary goal of a phase 3 trial trial. It shares

The former chief executive and founder of advertising giant WPP (WPP) Martin Sorrell has pursued a ruthless growth strategy with his new digital marketing upstart S4 Capital (SFOR), which he heads up as executive chairman. His departure from WPP was mired in acrimony but Sorrell has moved on fast with the strategy for S4 predicated upon the premise that embracing the transition to digital advertis

Touchstone Exploration (TXP:AIM) 101.6pGain to date: 95.4%Original entry point: Buy at 52p, 25 June 2020It has been a volatile few weeks for small cap oil and gas play Touchstone Exploration (TXP:AIM) as it announced mixed news from its Ortoire block in Trinidad & Tobago.However, confirmation that the Cascadura Deep-1 well had yielded a significant natural gas discovery (12 Apr) helped set the sha

Oil explorer Bahamas Petroleum (BPC:AIM) has updated the market on the rest of its portfolio in the wake of its failure to find commercial quantities of oil with a long-anticipated well offshore The Bahamas.The shares are flat today at 0.58p to languish more than 80% below the highs they set in the run up to the ultimately disappointing drilling effort which was revealed in early February (8 Feb).

Shares in Bahamas Petroleum (BPC:AIM) plunged 66.9% to 0.68p as it announced it had abandon the Perseverance-1 well in the Bahamas after more than a decade of development. One of the most long-awaited wells in the oil E&P (exploration and production) universe, hopes of a huge discovery were shattered as drilling came up largely dry.Oil was struck but not in volumes needed to make the well commerci

Small cap London-listed oil firm Bahamas Petroleum (BPC:AIM) is currently in the process of drilling among 2021's most high-impact oil exploration wells anywhere in the world.The Perseverance #1 well has earned its name as the company has been trying in vain to test its large acreage position offshore The Bahamas for more than a decade - running into problems with funding and approval for drilling

After an extraordinary year we look back at some of the top performers in different size categories from the heavyweights all the way down to sub £100 million market cap stocks at the bottom of the market and examine what has driven them higher in 2020. We have excluded investment trusts.£4 billion + market capShare price movements in mining companies can be about exposure to the commodities the

Touchstone Exploration (TXP:AIM) 101.4pGain to date: 95%Original entry point: Buy at 52p, 25 June 2020Our faith in small cap oil play Touchstone Exploration (TXP:AIM) continues to be rewarded in stunning fashion as the company announces the latest in a series of positive updates.Touchstone has made another gas discovery on its Ortoire block onshore Trinidad, its third in succession, with the resul

So you have opened a share dealing account, familiarised yourself with the mechanics of buying a share and purchased a few companies for your portfolio. The next step on the novice investor's journey is to learn about the numerous factors that drive a share price higher, or lower.From a top down level, these factors include macro-economic events and data points such as gross domestic product (GDP)

Touchstone Exploration (TXP:AIM) 73pGain to date: 40.4%Original entry point: Buy at 52p, 25 June 2020Our positive call on Trinidad oil firm Touchstone Exploration (TXP:AIM) has performed strongly with the main catalyst being an updated reserves report on its Cascadura natural gas discovery (20 Jul).The independent report on Cascadura identified proved and probable (2P) reserves net to Touchstone o