FTSE opened on the front foot on Tuesday with a gain of almost 3% to 5,129 points as the UK joined global stock markets higher following more stimulus from the US Federal Reserve and strong trading in Asia. Oil and mining shares led the market advance with defensive sectors such as utilities and consumer staples taking a back seat . Japan’s Nikkei 225 index was up 7.7% and China’s SSE ...

Boris Johnson’s thumping general election victory saw a swathe of unloved stocks come charging back, with the Gervais Williams-run Miton UK MicroCap Trust (MINI) among them. Shares in the investment trust reversed more than a year of poor stock price performance to rally 4.7% to 50.9p with investors clearly far more confident that the Prime Minister can get his Brexit deal through Parliament ...

The FTSE 100 got off to a decent start this morning as a fall in the pound boosted the exporter-heavy index. Sterling has dipped as a deal between the UK and the European Union ahead of the Brexit deadline becomes ever more unlikely. Just before 9am, the UK’s benchmark index stood almost 30 points, or 0.4%, higher at 7,172.73. Sports betting company GVC Holdings (GVC) jumped 3.4% to ...

Shares in chemicals manufacturer Zotefoams (ZTF) have plunged with an unstable political and economic climate in Europe and North America leading the firm to issue a profit warning. Zotefoam’s share price has fallen a whopping 36% in early morning trade to 340p as the specialist chemicals firm warned that sales of polyolefin foam, its biggest-selling product, are likely to be £6m below ...

The FTSE 100 remained on the back foot amid global growth fears, down a further 0.4% after enduring its worst day since January 2016 on Wednesday. Firms perceived to have particular exposure to the global economy like advertising giant WPP (WPP) and packaging firm DS Smith (SMDS) suffered most heavily. Global lifestyle brand Ted Baker (TED) descended 34.9% to 589.9p as it reported a £23m ...

The chemicals sector has historically been a very good place to invest with significant share price gains over the past decade and occasionally generous dividends. Unfortunately momentum has stalled in parts of the sector over the past six months amid concerns about a global economic slowdown and how that could feed into weaker demand for chemical products. There have also been some concerns ...

The most popular investment trusts on AJ Bell’s YouInvest platform in the month to 8 February include long-time favourites such as Scottish Mortgage (SMT) and Finsbury Growth & Income (FGT), as well as some trusts investors may be less familiar with. Investment trusts can be a useful option for investors looking for diversified exposure to a range of different companies and other ...

Management and performance fees may not be the most important consideration when weighing up the merits of particular investment trust, but they are certainly key. The greater the costs of a fund, the harder your investments have to work to generate a positive return. Investment companies pay a fee to fund managers for managing the portfolio. They may also pay a performance fee, if the manager ...

Thirty out of the 38 sectors in the FTSE 350 have fallen in value since the start of 2018. The market as a whole, as defined by the FTSE All-Share, is down by 8.5%. The FTSE 100 index has fared even worse, down 9% year-to-date. Five of the FTSE 350 sectors in positive territory have mustered up gains of less than 2%. The other three sectors have been driven by individual stocks having a ...

The end of the tax year is fast approaching which means investors across the country are being urged to make the most of any unused ISA allowance. You’ve only got three weeks left to add up to £20,000 across the range of ISAs. This is the maximum amount of cash you can place in the tax wrapper each year for making investments. The deadline is 11.59pm on 5 April. You don’t have to pay ...

Materials technology firm Zotefoams (ZTF) is one of our top picks in the chemicals sector thanks to healthy profit margins and strong investment in the business to keep it competitive. Zotefoams manufactures lightweight polyolefin foams and sells high performance products. It also licenses its MuCell technology to deliver stronger and more cost-effective packaging. The £145m cap business ...

Having closed yesterday’s session above 7,500 for the first time, the FTSE 100 pauses for breath early on, creeping 1.53 points higher to 7,524. Zotefoams (ZTF), the lightweight foam sheet material specialist, firms 6.9% to 310p on news of record first quarter sales and a confident outlook statement from CEO David Stirling. Croydon-headquartered Zotefoams says its new US facility in Kentucky ...

Lightweight foam sheet material specialist Zotefoams (ZTF) is hoping to enjoy a snowball effect with its High-Performance Products (HPP) business. It believes greater marketing investment should result in higher sales, thereby enabling it to put further resource into the business and chase even more sales. Success could have a positive impact on earnings as HPP commands much higher profit ...

London’s FTSE 100 opens in negative territory on Thursday, investors continuing to digest the implications of Chancellor Philip Hammond’s Budget and looking ahead to the European Central Bank's monetary policy meeting. On a busy day for corporate news, insurance giant Aviva (AV.) advances 29p or 5.7% to 540p on annual results showing the delivery of improved operating profit, cash and a ...

Minimal revenue growth in the first half of 2016 as customers run down excess stocks, delays to starting a joint venture operation in China and hold ups on a US factory expansion paint an apparently gloomy picture of Zotefoams (ZTF). If ever there was a time to buy on bad news and take advantage of share price weakness, it is now. Zotefoams is a very attractive investment proposition, in our ...

Chemicals play Victrex (VCT) could be a good option for investors looking to back solid UK businesses which generate most of their sales overseas. One of the country’s largest export sectors, chemicals operators like Victrex should see some benefit from a weaker sterling. This is a further kicker for what was already an exceptional business before Brexit. Resilient business ...

The markets may be missing a trick when it comes to valuing a major part of cellular material technologist Zotefoams (ZTF). The £132 million cap company produces high performance foams and materials that can be found in products as diverse as jet-fighter ejector seats and disposable packaging and a sum of the parts valuation carried out by Richard Hinkinbotham at Cantor Fitzgerald suggests that ...

Cellular material technologist Zotefoams (ZTF) nudges 1.1% lower to 297.7p after the £130 million cap posted an 8% increase in first-half revenue to £26.6 million. The group showed progress across all its divisions and had the group not experienced some significant translational headwinds, operating profit excluding exceptionals would have printed 20% higher for the six months to the end of June ...

London equities recover from declines posted at the market open to rally modestly with miners reversing early falls despite commodity prices acting as a drag on the sector. The start of the UK government's £2.1 billion share sale of its stake in Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is another big issue that will be closely watched by investor on Tuesday. The benchmark FTSE 100 index manages to nudge ...

Conviviality game-changer Bargain Booze owner Conviviality Retail (CVR:AIM) is currently suspended at 155p pending a potential reverse takeover. Conviviality, whose finals (13 Jul) showed progress across its franchised estate, is in talks to buy pub drinks distributor Matthew Clark in what would be a game-changing deal. (JC) Visibility bubbles at Zotefoams At 322p a trading update ...