European stocks climbed on Monday, with defence firms leading gains as leaders gathered in Paris to discuss increased military spending amid calls for greater European security investment, while markets also reacted to surging gold prices. The FTSE 100 index closed up 35.55 points, 0.4%, at 8,768.01. The FTSE 250 ended up 25.67 points, 0.1%, at 20,938.68, but the AIM All-Share closed down 0.84...

Stocks in Frankfurt and London were boosted by defence stocks at midday Monday, as European leaders prepared for talks in Paris with a focus on Ukraine. Among individual shares, BAE Systems rose, Barclays and NatWest recovered and Wood Group continued to slide. The FTSE 100 index rose 15.78 points, 0.2%, at 8,748.24. The FTSE 250 added 18.56 points, 0.1%, at 20,931.57, and the AIM All-Share ros...

Short-term lettings platform Airbnb (ABNB:NASDAQ) jumped more than 14% on Friday (14 Feb) to $161.2, the biggest one day move in the shares since listing on Nasdaq in 2020, after the company reported better than expected fourth quarter earnings and announced bold expansion plans. The gain took the market value of the company back above $100 billion, with the shares trading in a wide range betwe...

Investors in healthcare facilities provider Assura (AGR) will have received the news of an approach from buyout giant KKR (KKR:NYSE) with mixed feelings given the FTSE 250 firm is an income stalwart with an attractive yield. The shares immediately jumped 7p or 18% to 46p, just short of KKR's 48p per share offer made last week. STANDING FIRM Assura, which owns a £3 billion portfolio of purpose-...

Shares in MONY Group (MONY) rallied 6% to 201.2p after the price comparison site reported record full-year revenues and its highest ever adjusted earnings and signalled the strength of its cash flows and balance sheet by launching a £30 million share buyback. There was also relief as the tech-enabled savings platform insisted it remains 'well-positioned to continue to deliver sustainable, prof...

The FTSE 100 opened in the green on Monday despite geopolitical concerns and tariff worries continuing to hang over equities. The FTSE 100 index rose 13.43 points, 0.2%, at 8,745.89. The FTSE 250 added 64.96 points, 0.3%, at 20,977.97, and the AIM All-Share rose 1.33 points, 0.2%, at 727.39. The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.3% at 877.63, the Cboe UK 250 also added 0.3% to 18,333.89, and the Cboe Small...

London stocks were mixed on Friday, on the back of geopolitical uncertainty as world leaders come together at the Munich Security Conference. US Vice President JD Vance said Friday the US was prepared to put pressure on Russia to end the war in Ukraine, ahead of a meeting in Munich with President Volodymyr Zelensky. Zelensky meanwhile said that once Kyiv reached a common position with the US an...

London's blue chip index was in the red around midday on Friday, as investors await US retail sales and industrial production data. The FTSE 100 index traded down 17.80 points, 0.2%, at 8,747.10. The FTSE 250 was up 65.80 points, 0.3%, at 20,981.66, and the AIM All-Share climbed 2.18 points, 0.3%, at 725.38. The Cboe UK 100 was flat at 877.76, the Cboe UK 250 firmed 0.3% to 18,337.27 and the Cb...

Shares in John Wood Group (WG.) plummeted 30% in early morning trading as the Scottish-based oil and gas engineering and services firm reported weaker-than-expected trading in the fourth quarter. John Wood said it has taken actions to mitigate fourth quarter weakness by cancelling executive and employee bonuses and 'actively managing working capital at year end.' However, the firm still expects...

The old MicroStrategy, now called simply Strategy (MSTR:NASDAQ) following a splashy rebrand on 5 February, has enjoyed such success over the past year that its cryptocurrency playbook was bound to gather mimics. GameStop (GME:NYSE), the original meme stock video game retailer, is reportedly the latest, apparently thinking of throwing money at bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as its core busin...

In an unscheduled trading update, pension consulting and administration group XPS Pensions (XPS) said it expects full year results to March to be 'materially' ahead of prior expectations. The shares raced 14% ahead, hitting an all-time peak of 396p in early trading before settling around the 386p level. Over the last 12-months, shares in the FTSE 250 company are up 93%, reflecting strong moment...

Having risen more than 300% over the past five years, Hermes' (RMS:EPA) shares were marked up another 3.5% to an all-time high of €2,912 in Paris after the high-end handbag-maker defied the depressed luxury goods market by delivering forecast-beating fourth-quarter sales. Revenue rose across the board in the quarter to December as luxury shoppers continued to splash out on the French company'...

Investors seem remarkably relaxed - possibly even complacent - given the slew of bad economic news being thrown at the US market at present. Both wholesale and retail prices are rising faster than forecast, mainly due to higher food and energy costs, with underlying inflation in consumer goods and services rising at the fastest rate in more than a year. Although Fed chair Jerome Powell told the...