Stocks in London ended Tuesday in the red, as growth fears sparked by the latest US manufacturing data and the weak demand outlook from China weigh on commodity stocks.The FTSE 100 index closed down 65.38 points, 0.8%, at 8,298.46. The FTSE 250 ended down 171.95 points, 0.8%, at 20,808.56, and the AIM All-Share closed down 4.51 points, 0.6%, at 762.39.The Cboe UK 100 ended down 0.7% at 830.63, the

Investors will be keen to discover if insurer Direct Line Insurance (DLG) has continued its positive start to the year when it reports first-half results on 4 September after a tumultuous 12 months.The business delivered a strong first quarter, with double-digit written premium growth in Motor, Home and Commercial businesses and overall growth of 15% for ongoing operations.Chief executive Adam Win

Stocks in Europe traded higher on Wednesday morning amid a slew of corporate earnings and a rise in oil prices, after the Bank of Japan raised its main interest rate and before the Federal Reserve's decision later.The FTSE 100 index shot up 93.67 points, or 1.1%, at 8,368.08 on Wednesday morning. But the FTSE 250 rose 194.53 points, 0.9%, at 21,627.04, while the AIM All-Share added 3.72 points, 0.

Porsche AG (P911:ETR) €69.98Market cap: €31.3 billionAt first glance it may look like an odd time to pitch Porsche AG (P911:ETR) to readers, but we have seen many times that fundamentally good companies can be picked up on the relative cheap during testing times, and that's the scenario we now believe is in front of investors.The shares trade under the name of Dr ING F Porsche AG, which

Stocks in London made a soggy start on Tuesday, with miners dragging the blue-chip FTSE 100 lower, although Compass bucked the weaker trend.The FTSE 100 index traded down 30.93 points, or 0.4%, at 8,167.85. The FTSE 250 was down 25.12 points, 0.1%, at 21,113.56, while the AIM All-Share was down 1.55 points, 0.2%, at 781.69.The Cboe UK 100 was down 0.4% at 815.65, the Cboe UK 250 was 0.2% lower at

Stocks in London ended higher on Thursday, with promising updates sending retailers Frasers and Dunelm higher, while in mainland Europe, the European Central Bank took centre-stage as it opted to leave rates unmoved.The conviction remains that the ECB will cut at its September meeting, however. In the UK, signs of a softer labour market aided Bank of England rate cut expectations.The FTSE 100 inde

Stock prices in London were in the green at midday, as investors awaited the next interest rate call from the European Central Bank, while UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer hosted leaders from across Europe at a summit.The FTSE 100 index was up 59.33 points, or 0.7%, at 8,246.78. The FTSE 250 was up 151.37 points, or 0.7%, at 21,244.71, and the AIM All-Share was up 2.77 points, or 0.4%, at 789.57.The

Hot on the heels of the UK election and the float of Raspberry Pi (RPI) comes another highly-anticipated UK IPO (initial public offering), this time on AIM.Rosebank Industries (ROSE:AIM) placed 20 million shares at 250p last week raising £50 million, yet as it stands the company has no assets, revenue or profits ? instead it is a holding company set up to buy, improve and sell other companies.If

European markets remained downbeat on Tuesday around midday, as the prospect of a second Trump term and signs of economic weakness from China weighed on sentiment.The FTSE 100 index was down 22.59 points, 0.3%, at 8,160.37.In European equities, the CAC 40 in Paris was down 0.7%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was down 0.4%.In the FTSE 100, Rio Tinto fell 3.3%.The miner said iron ore production in t

European share prices started lower on Tuesday, after a positive close in New York led into a mixed performance for Asian stock markets.On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 0.5% on Monday, the S&P 500 up 0.3%, and the Nasdaq Composite up 0.4%.Positive bank earnings gave the market a boost, and US investors also took confidence from a further indication from the US Federal Res

We kick off this month with two more takeovers, or attempted takeovers, of UK small-cap firms.On 21 May Singapore-based but UK-listed specialist engineer XP Power (XPP) rejected a bid from Denver, Colorado-based rival Advanced Energy Industries (AEIS:NASDAQ).The firm said it had received a series of 'highly conditional, opportunistic, indicative proposals' from the US company, the latest at £19.5

Copper is already one of the most important materials underpinning human civilisation, and the energy transition is only likely to see demand for the industrial metal build in the years to come.Limits and pressures on supply and this growing demand profile are already seeing copper prices mount a charge and recent M&A activity ? with BHP's (BHP) unsuccessful (for now) attempt to take over Anglo Am

London?s FTSE 100 traded solidly higher at the start of the second quarter, boosted by oil majors and gold miners, ahead of UK data shortly.The FTSE 100 index opened up 48.35 points, 0.6%, at 8,000.97. The FTSE 250 was up 75.55 points, 0.4%, at 19,960.28, and the AIM All-Share was up 3.78 points, 0.5%, at 747.04.The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.5% at 800.00, the Cboe UK 250 was up 0.3% at 17,393.65, and t

AG Barr (BAG) 550pGain to date: 13.5%We flagged Scottish soft drinks maker AG Barr (BAG) in August 2023 arguing the company was not being given sufficient credit by the market for its sales momentum. We highlighted the strength of its portfolio of brands including Irn-Bru and Rubicon.WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO SINCE WE SAID TO BUY?We were on the money when we flagged ?the scope for further upgrades? as

A wall of money is going into building out the green infrastructure required to facilitate the global energy transition. This starts with electrifying power generation all the way through to transmitting and storing this energy before it is eventually consumed.At the same time, indebted governments are increasingly looking to private companies to help solve the global water challenge.Water is an e

A 21% discount to NAV (net asset value) Middlefield Canadian Income Trust (MCT) presents exciting potential upside for investors. Focused on generating high income from great Canadian businesses, this trust has faced a headwind from rising rates and has posted a negative one-year share price total return of 12.6%.However, the fund has returned 32.4% over five years and managers Dean Orrico and Rob

One indicator of value is the dividend yield. A high yield is typically telling you two things - either the market knows a company is struggling and the dividend is under threat, or the share price is too low and the dividend is safe.We think the latter is the case for FTSE 100 diversified mining group Rio Tinto (RIO) and on that basis we think investors should invest now.Berenberg has done some n

Legendary American broadcaster Edward R. Murrow is known for many pungent epithets, but one of this column's favourites is, 'Anyone who isn't confused really doesn't understand the situation.' Right now, investors feel confused because stock, bond, currency and commodity markets are giving out different signals. They cannot all be right.Equities are pricing in a return to the Goldilocks economy of

Stock prices in London ended lower on Monday, despite a strong start to the day, in the absence of fresh direction from Wall Street and as the initial boost of stimulus news in China faded.The FTSE 100 index closed down 11.78 points, 0.2%, at 7,452.76. The FTSE 250 ended down 12.76 points, 0.1%, at 18,524.14 and the AIM All-Share closed down 0.1%, or 0.84 points, at 740.59.The Cboe UK 100 ended do

Construction equipment rental specialist Ashtead (AHT) has setitself quite a high bar when it comes to its first-quarter earnings report on 5 September.The firm has beaten revenue forecasts in nine out of the last 10 quarters. Moreover, the comparison with the same quarter last year is a tough one as rental revenue was up 26% to just over $2 billion and adjusted pre-tax profit was up 29% to $555 m