The FTSE 100 achieved a solid gain and almost hit its best-ever level on Friday, with its mining and oil producing contingent sparing it from declines seen in equities elsewhere.Shares in Frankfurt and New York failed to find their feet as investors fretted over rising tensions and US interest rate worries.The FTSE 100 index ended up 71.78 points, 0.9%, at 7,995.58, closing below the 8,000...

Shares in hundreds of UK and US-listed companies have not fully recovered since the Covid-19 pandemic triggered a global stock market crash in February 2020, even though most major market indices are now trading above that level.According to SharePad data, 196 stocks in the FTSE 350 and 149 stocks in the S&P 500 are still trading below the day before markets crashed four years ago (21 February...

Another week, another takeover - this time it is alternative asset manager Gresham House (GHE:AIM), which is being bought by private equity firm Searchlight for £470 million.At £11.05 per share, 63% above the previous closing price and 10% above the all-time high a year ago, the purchase price represents an enterprise value of almost 16 times last year's earnings before interest, tax,...

European equities took a slight pause for breath on Friday, on the back of sizeable gains on Wednesday and Thursday, with eyes now turning to the health of the US corporate sector.Easing US inflation readings lifted the mood earlier this week, but earnings from major US banks are now the next risk event for equities to negotiate. The slew of earnings begins with the likes of JPMorgan Chase &...

Deal sees veteran Pease bow outConsolidation gathering paceListed UK firms could be vulnerable to takeoversCompetition for customers and the need for economies of scale are driving another round of consolidation in the UK wealth management industry with the announcement this week of yet another deal.Yesterday it emerged that hedge fund Lansdowne Partners had agreed to acquire equities...

An under-the-radar constituent of the IA UK Equity Income sector that is delivering stellar returns despite difficult market conditions is VT Tyndall Real Income Fund (BYX0D61). Small at £18.9 million of assets, it is big on ambition under the stewardship of manager Simon Murphy and competitive on cost, with a lowly annual management charge of 0.35%.Murphy took over the fund right before the...

- Total assets rise to $57.2 billion in December- Enthusiasm for emerging markets returning- Potential for further gains in 2023FTSE 250 specialist asset manager Ashmore (ASHM) saw a rise in the value of its assets last quarter thanks to a return of confidence in emerging markets.The shares eased 2% to 266p after closing at a nine-month high of 271.6p at the end of last week.SOLID INVESTMENT...

There's a diverse set of companies in the latest list of notable earnings upgrades and downgrades as analysts react to a mixed set of third quarter updates.Small cap internet services outfit CentralNic (CNIC:AIM) saw a string of upgrades following an encouraging trading statement on 18 October which, as research house Edison observed, saw the company 'continue to benefit from advertisers...

- Asset manager's pre-tax profits plunge 58%- Annual AuM down 32%- Sees 'exceptionally attractive valuations' in emerging marketsFTSE 250 fund manager Ashmore's (ASHM) assets under management (AuM) were hit by 'widespread risk aversion' in the second half of its financial year to June 2022, leading to a steep drop in annual profits.Yet shares in the specialist emerging markets asset manager...

The advent of globalisation has helped to drive considerable earnings growth for companies on the UK stock market thanks to them doing business with an ever-growing number of countries. Unfortunately, widespread geographical expansion means the list of UK stocks with exposure to Russia is bigger than you might think.Many professional and retail investors have raised a moral objective to having...

Shares in specialist asset manager Ashmore (ASHM) fell 1.8% to 284.2p after the group reported a decline in assets under management reflecting the ongoing macroeconomic uncertainties in emerging markets.Assets under management of $87.3 billion were marginally below consensus expectations of $88.7 billion. This was due to higher net outflows of $2.2 billion that were significantly ahead of a...

UK stocks made modest gains into the early afternoon session with the FTSE 100 index of leading shares registering a 0.2% gain at midday to 7,178 points.The midcap FTSE 250 index saw similar gains of 0.2% to 24,264 points.Markets are eagerly awaiting the August US non-farm payrolls data due to be released at 1.30pm London time. The rate of job creation is seen as a key input into the central...

Specialist emerging markets asset manager Ashmore (ASHM) delivered a 13% increase in assets under management to $94.4 billion in the year to 30 June 2021 as it attracted net inflows of $1.2 billion and investment performance chipped in the $9.6 billion balance.Adjusted pre-tax profit of £286 million came in ahead of market expectations, although the lately-unloved shares cheapened 5.1% to...

UK stocks opened slightly weaker on Friday as investors nervously awaited the latest US monthly job numbers this afternoon, a key barometer of the strength of the economic recovery.The consensus expectation is for around 728,000 jobs to have been created in August.Overnight, there was a surprise resignation by Japanese prime minister Yoshihide Suga, whose support has slumped over his handling...

UK stocks fell in early trading on Wednesday after higher inflation data, both at home and in the US, stoked concerns about rising interest rates.At 8.35 am, the benchmark FTSE 100 index and the more domestically focused FTSE 250 were both trading 0.5% lower, at 7,086.31 and 22,818.8 points respectively.The UK consumer price index rose 2.5% in June, ahead of expectations of a 2.2% increase....

The executive management team of Russian real estate firm Raven Property Group (RAV) were out in force last week after the general meeting approved their purchase of shares from Invesco Funds as part of a newly-formed joint venture company Raven Holdings Limited.The directors, who previously owned 58.4 million shares representing 9.98% of the firm's ordinary share capital, bought up 46.7...

London's FTSE 100 was back above the 7,000 level for the first time since February 2020 on Friday as investors cheered signs that the global recovery remains on track following data showing China's economy grew at record pace in the first quarter.By 8.45 am, the blue chip benchmark was up 32.3 points or 0.46% at 7,015.75, representing a massive milestone in recovering from the terrible...

UK stocks traded higher on Wednesday as mining stocks found favour thanks to a sharp rally in metals and commodity prices.In Asian trading the Shanghai Composite SE index surged 1.4% and Japan's Nikkei 225 index gained 0.2%.Gold prices were 0.3% higher at $1,845 an ounce and Brent oil prices were slightly lower at $60.8 a barrel.At 12 pm the FTSE 100 was up 27 points or 0.4% t0 6,559 points,...

Specialist emerging-market fixed-income focused fund manager Ashmore (ASHM) posted an impressive increase in earnings and asset growth for the first half of the year to December, sending its shares to a nine-month high of 493p in early trading.Pre-tax profits for the period rose 14% to £150.6 million thanks to strong fee generation related to the performance of its funds and a healthy gain on...

UK stocks opened higher on Wednesday after a clutch of positive corporate results and dividend resumptions.In Asian trading the Shanghai Composite SE index surged 1.4% and Japan's Nikkei 225 index gained 0.2%.Gold prices were 0.3% higher at $1,845 an ounce and Brent oil prices were slightly lower at $60.8 a barrel.At 08.45 am the FTSE 100 was 14 points higher at 6,546 points.CORPORATE...