Stocks in Europe were down on Wednesday morning, with the FTSE 100 trading lower despite some UK consumer price inflation respite in May, which puts the Bank of England firmly under the spotlight on the eve of its next decision. Meanwhile, financial markets in New York are closed Wednesday for a public holiday. The FTSE 100 index traded 21.62 points lower, 0.3%, at 8,169.67. The FTSE 250 was do...

Stock prices in London closed higher on Tuesday, as markets wait for the latest Bank of England interest rate decision and UK inflation data. The FTSE 100 index closed up 49.14 points, 0.6%, at 8,191.29. The FTSE 250 ended up 250.21 points, 1.2%, at 20,409.93, and the AIM All-Share closed up 3.39 points, 0.4%, at 778.32. The Cboe UK 100 ended up 0.6% at 815.73, the Cboe UK 250 closed up 1.1% at...

Stock prices in Europe were higher on Tuesday afternoon, ahead of a US retail sales reading, while stocks in the UK were up after data showed grocery price inflation eased in June. The FTSE 100 index was up 32.94 points, or 0.4%, at 8,175.52. The FTSE 250 was 132.88 points, or 0.7%, at 20,292.77, and the AIM All-Share was up 2.01 points, or 0.3%, at 776.94. The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.4% at 814.27...

Shares in Telecom Plus (TEP) were up over 2% to £19.20 in morning trading as the multi-utility supplier reported an adjusted pre-tax profit of £116.9 million, up 21.5% for the full year ending 31 March 2024, slightly above market expectations. The company said it continued to perform strongly against the backdrop of a 'normalised' energy market and passed a million customers in the fourth qua...

Shares in Whitbread (WTB) gained 4% to £30.21, topping the FTSE 100 performance table, after the Premier Inn owner said it experienced a pick-up in trading towards the back end of the 13-week period to the end of May. The shares are down 17% since the beginning of the year compared with a 6% gain for the benchmark FTSE 100 index. AN IMPROVING TREND Group sales grew 1% to £739 million driven b...

Electronics engineer XP Power (XPP) saw its share price plunge nearly 18% in trading on Tuesday (18 Jun), leaving the stock more than 40% lower over the past 12 months. Having been marred by slowing orders late last year, this latest blow comes as US peer Advanced Energy Industries (AEIS:NASDAQ) walked away from making a buyout bid for the company. Advanced Energy put out a statement this morni...

Equipment rental firm Ashtead (AHT) posted a fall in pre-tax profit for both the final quarter and the full year to the end of April and forecast a slowdown in revenue growth in the key US construction market. The shares dropped 180p or 3.3% to £53.30, undoing all their gains since mid-March and sending them to the bottom of the FTSE 100 performance table, as investors mulled over the results....

Stocks in Europe were in the green on Tuesday morning, with Premier Inn owner Whitbread leading the way among London's large-caps, with a UK inflation reading and Bank of England decision to come later this week. The FTSE 100 index traded 44.73 points higher, 0.6%, at 8,186.88. The FTSE 250 was up 105.39 points, 0.5%, at 20,265.11, and the AIM All-Share rose 2.97 points, 0.4%, at 777.90. The Cb...

Stock prices in London closed mixed on Monday ahead of UK inflation data and a rate decision from the Bank of England, and as investors digested the latest house price reading. The FTSE 100 index closed down 4.71 points, 0.1%, at 8,142.15. The FTSE 250 ended up 39.36 points, 0.2%, at 20,159.72, and the AIM All-Share closed up 1.11 points, 0.2%, at 774.93. The Cboe UK 100 ended down slightly at...

Luka Mucic, chief financial officer of Newbury-based mobile network operator Vodafone (VOD), bought 510,000 shares at 76.15p for a total value of £388,365 on 4 June. Vodafone shares are down 1.1% year-to-date against a 5.6% gain for the FTSE 100. The purchase came less than a week after Vodafone announced it had completed the sale of its Spanish operations to Zegona Communications for €5 bil...

Stocks in London made a cautious start to the week, with falls in mining stocks pegging back the FTSE 100 after mixed economic data from China. The FTSE 100 index traded down 7.60 points, 0.1%, at 8,139.26. The FTSE 250 edged up just 1.22 points to 20,121.58, and the AIM All-Share lost 0.54 of a point, 0.1%, at 775.50. The Cboe UK 100 was down 0.2% at 810.01, the Cboe UK 250 was up 0.1% at 17,5...

Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca (AZN) said it has received US regulatory approval for its cancer drug Imfinzi to treat patients with advanced or recurrent endometrial cancer. The approval was based on results from a late-stage trial which showed Imfinzi plus carboplatin and paclitaxel followed by Imfinzi monotherapy reduced the risk of disease progression or death by 58% versus chemotherapy al...

Mind Gym's (MIND:AIM) shares slumped the best part of 30% to an all-time low of 27.5p after the corporate training specialist reported an 18% plunge in sales for the year to 31 March 2024 driven by constricted customer HR (human resources) budgets and warned the new financial year will be one of 'recalibration'. The London-headquartered staff training play lurched from pre-tax profits of £3 mi...