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

Capital preservation funds are positioned to help investors avoid large losses while growing their wealth too, albeit more slowly than more risk-tolerant funds. In the investment trusts patch, the three main wealth preservers are Ruffer Investment Company (RICA), Capital Gearing Trust (CGT) and Personal Assets Trust (PNL), while RIT Capital Partners (RCP) also has a capital preservation bent.Durin

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

Stocks in London climbed on Wednesday afternoon, buoyed by softer US employment data which strengthened the case for the Federal Reserve to move interest rates lower soon enough.Investors are increasingly pricing in a similarly dovish outlook for the European Central Bank, hurting the pound but lifting stocks in mainland Europe.?The rate cut narrative continues to gather pace, leading to a fresh b

London's FTSE 100 suffered a minor fall on Tuesday, despite spending most of the day in the green, with share price falls for oil majors and Vodafone meaning it underperformed European peers.The FTSE 100 index closed down 5.67 points, 0.1%, at 7,321.72. The FTSE 250 ended up 65.46 points, 0.4%, at 17,083.05, and the AIM All-Share closed up 1.28 points, 0.2%, at 679.85.The Cboe UK 100 ended down 0.

Over the last 15 years the electronics and electronic equipment space, home to some of the UK market's highest-quality engineering and capital goods firms, is the best performing sector in the FTSE 350 with an 11.7% compound annual return.The industrial engineering sector is not too far behind with its own annualised return of 9.7%. For comparison, the FTSE All-Share's annualised return over the s

European stocks went into Tuesday afternoon on the back foot, with the mood in equity markets hurt by a series of less-than-stellar manufacturing sector readings.There may have also been an element of profit-taking, after stock markets ended last week on the up, despite a trio of major central bank decisions. The central bank action continues on Thursday with the Bank of England. The Reserve Bank

Firmly out of favour with investors since the Brexit vote seven years ago, the FTSE 250 index rallied strongly on the release of the latest UK inflation data (19 July). This showed UK CPI rising by 7.9% year-on-year in June, lower than forecasts of an 8.2% rise, theoretically reducing expectations for the scale of future interest rate hikes from the Bank of England.Yet even after a big one-day jum

High street banks stand accused of short-changing savers by not passing on the full interest rate rise since the Bank of England hiked rates. Now the Government, regulators and news sites are all focused on the gap between what banks are charging on mortgage rates and what they are offering cash savers.Moneyfacts data shows the gap is huge, with average two-year fixed rate mortgage going from 2.52

It has been a mixed start to 2023 for the mining industry, one of the few remaining sectors where the London stock market still has many of the world's biggest names.A reopening of the Chinese economy helped drive a rally in miners of industrial metals in the first weeks of the new year before concerns about recession began to weigh more heavily. On the flipside the precious metals space has come

Weak sentiment towards UK small and medium-sized companies has seen investment trusts focused on this space languish at big discounts and driven consolidation as products with dwindling assets are combined.Stifel believes the 15% discount to net asset value at Mercantile Investment Trust (MRC) means the shares are 'worth a look for those wanting exposure to the UK mid and small cap space' as the b

There have been some notable dividend increases in recent weeks from well-known companies on the stock market including a 31% hike from advertising group WPP (WPP) while banking giant HSBC (HSBA) raised its ordinary dividend by 28% on top of comments that it might pay a special dividend once the sale of its Canadian business has completed.Even more impressively, mining services company Weir Group

Shares in London were buoyant on Wednesday around midday, as housebuilder Persimmon's disappointing annual profit result was offset by positive trading for mining stocks in the FTSE 100.The FTSE 100 index was up 68.21 points, 0.9%, at 7,944.49. The FTSE 250 was up 74.48 points, 0.4%, at 19,977.76, and the AIM All-Share was up 1.02 points, 0.1%, at 860.39.The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.8% at 794.87, the

- Record order book- 38% increase in the dividend- CEO flags 'compelling' opportunityA strong set of results, encouraging outlook and a near-40% increase in the dividend helped put a smile on the face of Weir (WEIR) shareholders on Wednesday morning.Shares in the mining services firm were up 6.3% to £20.19, extending year-to-date gains to more than 20%, as it posted 2022 revenue of £2.47 billion

London's big mining stocks were on the rise at the start of the new month on Wednesday, after a survey found renewed strength in China's manufacturing sector, a big customer for metals and other minerals.The gains for miners were offsetting declines for housebuilders, after a report showed UK house prices continued to decline last month and Persimmon warned about the year ahead.The large-cap index

London shares prices were trading firm at midday on Monday and the FTSE 100 was inching back up toward its recent record high, as investors cautiously awaited fresh UK economic data in the week ahead.'Back above the 7,900 mark and within striking distance of its recent all-time highs the index continues to build on its gains of recent months, but the confidence that remains is about as fragile as

One of the most compelling attributes of exchange-traded funds, also known as ETFs, is they allow investors to create a diversified investment portfolio from scratch rapidly, easily and inexpensively.If you bought a product tracking the MSCI World index you could arguably do this at the click of a single button - and by doing so you would gain exposure to more than 1,500 stocks. But that index is

- Three new faces in the FTSE 100- Five stocks join the FTSE 250- Changes take effect from 19 DecemberIndex compiler FTSE Russell, owned by London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG), has just released the results of its December quarterly review.Three stocks are being promoted to the FTSE 100 large-cap index, meaning three stocks are leaving to join the FTSE 250 mid-cap universe, as Shares explains.WHO I

Around half of us in the UK don't have a will, and I was one of them until this week. It's no surprise that people put off making a will, it involves grim conversations about your death and awkward ones about which of your family members you like enough to leave some money to versus others. Not to mention the tricky conundrum of who you want your kids (or pets) to live with if you die.My discussio

Mid-cap companies have always attracted investors. Seen as large enough to compete on a global scale, but not so big that their capacity for growth is capped, like many FTSE 100 stocks, an increasing number of investors spend time researching stocks on the FTSE 250 index, or simply buy the index through the handful of inexpensive targeted ETF tracker funds that are available.While many investors m