Stock prices in London were in the red at midday Tuesday as eurozone consumer prices were confirmed to have risen as expected in October, while global geopolitical tensions rose.Ukraine is utilising its new ability to hit Russia with US missiles, reportedly prompting stocks to fall as investors lose their appetites for risk.Investors are also starting to scale back expectations for interest rate c

Stock prices in Europe were generally lower on Friday morning, after optimism from rate cuts in the US and UK wore off, as China unveiled a huge support package under which it will raise the local government debt ceiling.China's top lawmakers have approved a proposal to increase the debt ceiling for local governments by $840 billion, state media said as a key meeting wrapped up in Beijing.Meanwhil

The FTSE 100 in London opened higher on Friday, eating into some of its post-UK budget weakness, while the pound gained some lost ground.Eyes turn state side later, with US jobs data to come, before the Federal Reserve decision next week, and a presidential election on Tuesday.Closer to home, Reckitt shares jumped on a favourable US legal ruling on infant formula. Airlines struggled as oil prices

The defensive lean to London's FTSE 100 index served it well on Tuesday, as tensions mounted in the Middle East amid reports that Iran is planning an imminent missile attack on Israel.The FTSE 100 index ended up 39.70 points, 0.5%, at 8,276.65. The FTSE 250 closed 112.46 lower, 0.5%, at 20,940.73, and the AIM All-Share shed 3.63 points, 0.5%, at 736.80.The Cboe UK 100 ended 0.5% higher at 828.74 o

Another year of above-average returns58th consecutive year of dividend growthLower annual feesThe popular City of London (CTY) investment trust delivered another year of outperformance and dividend growth, marking 58 consecutive years of increases, the longest record in the AIC's (Association of Investment Companies) list of Dividend Heroes.The shares traded down 1.65p or 0.37% to 439.9p, but are

Some years ago, a UK technology supplier listed in London was quietly acquired by defence contractor BAE Systems (BA.). The £538 million buyout price was small, yet Detica, as it was called, had developed a reputation for providing its services to international militaries and intelligence communities, including GCHQ, the UK's national intelligence centre.The nature of its hush-hush work often put

With the UK economy seemingly headed for a 'soft landing' and interest rates set to fall at some point this year, more adventurous investors will be looking to add a little more risk to their portfolios.Given the UK market, and the mid-cap space in particular, is widely acknowledged to be cheap, the passive option would be to buy a mid-cap ETF (exchange-traded fund) such as the iShares FTSE 250 (M

The space sector is gaining traction with investors again amid increased activity among names spanning US aircraft maker Boeing (BA:NYSE), defence giant BAE Systems (BA.) and Elon Musk-backed SpaceX.On 5 June Boeing launched its long-delayed astronaut capsule Starliner towards the International Space Station with two Nasa astronauts on board.Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams ? the astronauts in ques

The world's first listed SpaceTech fund, Seraphim Space Investment Trust (SSIT), is due to report third quarter results for the three months ending 31 March 2024 on 6 June.Seraphim shares have rallied sharply in recent months, coming off a 52-week low of 26p on 12 July last year to hit a 52-week high of 75p on 14 May after renewed investor interest in the sector.So, what's been grabbing investors'

Stock prices in London surged on Thursday afternoon, shaking off a muted morning, as a dovish tilt to the Bank of England?s latest rate hold supported equities.Threadneedle Street maintained bank rate at a 16-year high of 5.25% for the sixth meeting in-a-row. However, two members of its Monetary Policy Committee backed a 25 basis point cut. Seven, Governor Andrew Bailey included, supported the hol

After almost closing at a new high in early April, the UK?s blue-chip FTSE 100 has finally made it into the ranks of indices hitting new all-time highs thanks to a 4.5% gain since the start of January.On 22 April the index reached its highest ever close and on 23 April it moved through its previous intra-day high.The UK clearly isn?t in the same league as the US, where the S&P 500 has notched up n

Standard Chartered Bank director sells £9.64 million sharesBAE Systems chair buys £180,779 sharesDarktrace CEO offloads over £700,000 sharesSimon Cooper, CEO corporate, commercial, and institutional banking, and Europe & Americas of Asian-focused Standard Chartered Bank (STAN) has sold 1,482,343 shares at 650p for a total value of £9.64 million on 14 March.The bank said last week that Cooper i

Total revenue and other income up 13.8% to $1.2 billionPre-tax profit up 21.5%Strong passenger and capacity growthKazakhstan-based airline Air Astana (AIRA) reported a 21.5% increase in pre-tax profit to $68.7 million for the 12 months ending 31 December 2023.The company reported total revenue of $1.2 billion, up 13.8% on the prior year as passenger numbers increased 10.1% to a record 8.1 million.

One of the most popular investment trusts with AJ Bell?s ISA millionaires, City of London (CTY) is a favourite with investors seeking long-term income and capital growth and a gateway to large international companies.However, while the long-run performance record is strong, Curtis? cautious approach means the fund can underperform in some market conditions. On a 10-year share price total return ba

Defence giant increases dividend by 11%Full year revenue up 9% to £23.07 billionOrder book up £9.1 billionShares in BAE Systems (BA.) fell over 3% to £12.11 in morning trading despite the defence giant reporting a 9% increase in revenue to £23.07 billion for the year ending 31 December.Full year sales were up 9% to £25.28 billion, and the company also announced a 11% increase in dividend to 3

It has been a stellar two years for defence business BAE Systems (BA.), among the very best periods in the company?s history. The war in Ukraine and other tensions around the world have acted as a spur for global governments to invest in their military capability and BAE has positioned itself in the right areas to take advantage.This has been rewarded by the market and means there is little margin

According to London Stock Exchange data there were just 23 IPOs (initial public offerings) in total on the UK market in 2023, only slightly more than half the number the preceding year and the lowest since the exchange started publishing records in 1995.For the first time since the financial crisis just one company joined the market in the fourth quarter, and that was a new listing rather than an

There were several trends in the UK stock market this year which, if you managed to identify them, served you well.Most obviously, although it may not have seemed it at the index level, large-cap stocks generally performed better than small- and mid-caps, although for the lucky few the small-cap space has been rife with takeover activity.In terms of sectors, aerospace and defence topped the FTSE 3

Conflict is always an unhappy subject, but it remains an area of real focus across the globe. Cross-border collisions of ideology, hegemony, raw materials, and even survival, mean national budgets reach astronomical levels, especially in the US, by far the world's largest military spender.In 2022, global military budgets hit an all-time high of $2.2 trillion, according to data released by the Stoc

Equity income trusts in demandCity of London most boughtScottish Mortgage, Finsbury Growth & Income divide opinionWith conflict in the Middle East and Ukraine creating uncertainty, and investors grappling with cost-of-living pressures as falling inflation is expected to be a drawn-out process, dependable income trusts have proved popular on the AJ Bell platform over the past month.At the same time