Stock prices in London opened higher on Thursday, ahead of a flash UK PMI reading and the next interest rate decision by the Bank of England.Stocks on Wall Street got a boost on Wednesday, after the US Federal Reserve was surprisingly dovish and left its three rate cuts unchanged from the December dot plot.Eyes now turn onto the Bank of England which will announce its own interest rate decision at

Stock prices in London remained mixed at midday on Thursday, as the interest rate decision from the European Central Bank due later this afternoon continued to hold attention.The FTSE 100 index was down 19.30 points, 0.3%, at 7,660.01. The FTSE 250 was up 103.41 points, 0.5%, at 19,576.63, and the AIM All-Share was up 1.18 points, 0.2%, at 738.81.The Cboe UK 100 was down 0.3% at 767.42, the Cboe U

Offer pitched at 220p per shareMerger to create UK?s second biggest mortgage and savings groupVirgin Money suspends £150 million buybackVirgin Money UK (VMUK) was the FTSE 250?s big winner on Thursday, shares in the UK?s sixth largest retail bank surging 36% to 215.8p on news it has agreed the key terms of a £2.9 billion takeover by Nationwide Building Society.The mooted deal would create Britai

The publication of full-year results by the big four UK high-street banks is imminent and there will inevitably be a good deal of scrutiny of their margins and provisions for bad loans.If last week?s update from Virgin Money UK (VMUK) is any guide, net interest margins should be fairly steady although that will depend on how keen the major players have been to expand their loan books.Virgin itself

Confidence returning among borrowers?Disciplined approach? to lendingCredit quality remains goodFinancial services group Virgin Money UK (VMUK) posted a positive first-quarter trading update with ?growth in new accounts, deposits and target lending segments, at stable margins and with ongoing cost efficiencies? according to chief executive David Duffy.Investors responded by sending the shares up 2

Trust returns to long-run outperformance trendBenchmark-beating 17.6% returnUK mid-caps cheaper than large-capsJean Roche-run investment trust Schroder UK Mid Cap Fund (SCP) returned to form in style over the year ended 30 September 2023, delivering a net asset value total return of 17.6% versus the disappointing 30% decline in the previous year.This beat the 13.6% total return from the benchmark

Anyone following UK financial stocks must have wondered what on earth was so awful about the latest trading update from OSB (OSB) that the shares lost almost a third of their value in a single day last week.The answer is a sudden but we suspect long-overdue admission that higher interest rates aren't a cure-all for bank profitability, and borrowers are responding much faster than expected to compe

Test is designed as a worst-case scenarioAssumptions include 17% inflation and 31% fall in house pricesLloyds sees smallest 'hit' to capital baseShares in the big UK lenders were higher across the board after the Bank of England released the results of its 2022/23 banking sector 'stress test', even though the outcome was always likely to be positive.Lloyds (LLOY), the biggest UK retail bank by loa

June's larger-than-expected half percentage point interest rate rise has pushed the FTSE 100 index back into negative territory for the year and triggered fears of recession among investors and market observers.Moreover, there seems little doubt the UK central bank will raise rates again at its August meeting, the only question being by how much.'It now appears that interest rates may go higher th

The banking sector is under pressure to be more generous with interest rates on savings accounts, which is negative for their profit margins.In February, an influential parliamentary committee opened an inquiry into why the interest rates paid on easy-access savings accounts by the 'big four' UK high-street banks - Barclays (BARC), HSBC (HSBA), Lloyds (LLOY) and NatWest (NWG) - were so much lower

- Shares tumble on higher than expected provisions- Underlying performance in line with expectations- US regional lenders fall sharply overnightWith the US banking sector still in turmoil as more medium-sized institutions saw their shares tumble overnight, today's first-half update from challenger lender Virgin Money (VMUK) was bound to be closely scrutinised.Judging by the 8% fall in the shares t

If a week can be a long time in politics, in financial markets it can make investors feel as though their whole world has been turned upside down.For years, analysts have consistently peddled the line that higher - or at least rising - interest rates are positive for banks because it means they can generate a bigger margin on their lending.Instead, last week's collapse of Silicon Valley Bank has s

Shareholders in UK banks won't need reminding of their sudden loss of income during the pandemic after the regulator put a stop to dividend payments.With the country now forecast to go into recession and gloomy forecasts of up to a 30% drop in the housing market, could we be facing a similar situation in a year's time?The recent results from the big high street lenders were generally robust, as ri

The UK domestic banks second quarter reported season has prompted renewed interest in the sector from investors.The results, for the most part, were characterised by earnings exceeding consensus expectations and management upgrading their return on equity forecasts for 2023.NatWest (NWG) was the standout star performer, and Barclays (BARC) produced the least inspiring set of numbers.Second quarter

Market focus as the end of the week was on a key inflation reading in the US, as the Federal Reserve leads central banks around the world in raising interest rates.Not boding well for price pressure, the Brent crude oil price edged above $124 a barrel on Friday.The US consumer price index report is at 1330 BST.The FTSE 100 index was down 87.83 points, or 1.2%, at 7,388.48 midday Friday in London.

Global stock markets started the new month in positive spirits following a strong performance on the US Nasdaq technology index which closed up over 3%, capping its biggest two-day gain since 2020.Sterling gained against the dollar to sit at $1.35 once again, while Brent crude traded sideways at $89.16 per barrel as OPEC and its allies were expected to approve a modest increase in production this

Global stock markets kicked-off the new month in buoyant mood with Germany's DAX index gaining 1.5%, following a strong performance on the US Nasdaq index which closed up over 3%, capping its biggest two-day gain since 2020. Alphabet is expected to release its earnings after the close.Chinese markets are closed for new year while Japan's Nikkei 225 gained 0.3%.Brent crude nudged up 0.2% to $89.3 a

UK stocks regained some poise Tuesday lunchtime, recovering steep early losses as global markets were spooked by a Chinese crackdown on education, food delivery and property companies and worries state intervention could be extended to the technology sector.At 12pm the FTSE index of leading shares was down 0.4% to 7,000 points.DOWNDRAFTScottish Mortgage Trust (SMT), one of Britain's biggest invest

Leading UK shares closed convincingly higher with big cap miners doing well as US data pointed to an economic rebound across the pond. The benchmark FTSE 100 finished ahead by over 116 points, or 1.68%, at 7,039.30, while mid-caps also ended the day up, the FTSE 250 adding 0.25% at 22,385.90.The IHS Markit report in the US came in better than expected in April, with the services purchasing manager

Leading UK shares were clinging above the 7,000 level as commodity stocks provided support and Tuesday's comments about interest rate hikes from US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen faded into the background.At midday, the FTSE 100 was 1.15% ahead at 7,002.96, led by mining group Anglo American's (AAL) 3.6% gain at £31.88, with BHP (BHP), Glencore (GLEN) and Rio Tinto (RIO) also ahead. Other cyclic