There's a quiet re-rating going on in the UK stock market which suggests investors are slowly waking up to the bounty of value opportunities. The non-stop takeover action was the biggest clue as to prizes up for grabs, given bids are still coming thick and fast. Trade buyers and private equity companies have been taking advantage of cheap valuations for multiple years, and now retail and...

Three decades ago, the Alternative Investment Market ? or AIM for short ? was launched. In this article we take a look back at how it all started, what have been the highs and lows and where it might go from here. Is it still an attractive place for innovative growth companies ? described by the London Stock Exchange as 'the lifeblood of the global economy' ? to raise vital equity capital and...

London's blue chip index beat its peers in Paris and Frankfurt on Friday morning as Bank of England rate setter Alan Taylor called for further interest rate cuts, while M&G rose after it entered a new long-term strategic partnership with Japanese life insurer Dai-ichi Life. The FTSE 100 index opened up 49.67 points, 0.6%, at 8,766.12. The FTSE 250 was up 66.75 points, 0.3%, at 21,064.33, and...

In what could be one of the biggest listings of the year, Cobalt Holdings ? a company set up to buy and hold cobalt, as its name suggests ? said it intended to float in London next month through a $230 million issue of new equity partly underwritten by mining giant Glencore (GLEN). The company, which will seek admission to the commercial companies segment of the official list, claims it will...

Offer from US rival rejected Corpay faces 30 May deadline Alpha had 'strong start' to 2025 Investors in FTSE 250 fintech firm Alpha Group (ALPH) were in celebratory mood after the company's board rejected a bid approach from New York-listed cross-border payments rival Corpay (CPAY:NYSE). Alpha shares added as much as 220p or almost 8% to a new all-time high of £30.30 on the news, taking...

London stocks were in the green on Tuesday as investors await UK PMI data, while blue chip stocks in Paris and Frankfurt were down with PMI data for Germany and France already out. The FTSE 100 index opened up 20.53 points, 0.2%, at 8,616.88. The FTSE 250 was up 87.81 points, 0.4%, at 20,328.32, and the AIM All-Share was up 1.65 points, 0.2%, at 709.40. The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.1% at 858.98,...

For readers who may not be aware, being market-cap weighted both the FTSE 100 and the FTSE 250 index are reviewed and rebalanced every three months to take account of share price movements.In the previous review, which took place at the end of February, budget airline group EasyJet (EZJ) won promotion to the FTSE 100 while precious metals group Endeavour Mining (EDV) was relegated to the FTSE...

As the penny finally drops with investors that banks aren't quite the one-way-bet they thought they were when borrowing rates started to rise, interest is growing in non-bank financial stocks.Fortunately, the UK market is blessed with a number of established, well-run, well-capitalised and profitable fintech firms like foreign exchange and banking services provider Alpha (ALPH:AIM).It has two...

Finally, everyone is talking about UK stocks. The spotlight is back on the country after the UK's FTSE 100 was one of the few major indices globally to record positive returns in 2022 and this year it has broken through the 8,000 level and hit a new record high. Hopefully, this will lead to the return of foreign investors who have shunned the UK since the Brexit vote in 2016.Investors can...