European stocks were in the green at Friday midday after a slew of fiscal stimulus measures from China, and as investors await key US inflation data which is crucial in the Federal Reserve's interest rate decisions.The core personal consumption index remains traders' main focus going into Friday afternoon, and is expected to remain unchanged at 0.2% on a monthly basis with a small annual uptick fr

Stocks in London closed higher on Thursday, as China's ongoing stimulus measures continued to buoy risk sentiment.Miners continued to rise, while luxury retail also moved higher again, boosting the CAC 40 in Paris. Travel stocks joined in on the rally, after a bullish update from a US peer.Share price falls for oil majors kept a lid on the FTSE 100's progress, however.The FTSE 100 index closed up

Robust trading ahead of marketFull-year results ahead of expectationsEarnings upgradesPubs group Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) continued to grow sales ahead of the market in the fourth quarter despite an easing inflationary backdrop, unseasonably cool weather and disruption cased by the summer riots.The All Bar One and Toby Carvery operator said robust trading and a reduction in net cost headwinds to

Industry backdrop 'challenging'But expectations unchangedSpirits giant confident growth will returnIn a thin trading update, alcoholic drinks behemoth Diageo (DGE) warned that the global backdrop for the industry 'remains challenging' with consumers continuing to exercise caution.However, shares in the Johnnie Walker-to-Smirnoff vodka maker rallied 4% to £26 on relief that things aren't getting a

Stocks in Europe opened higher on a busy Thursday filled with economic readings from the US and Europe as well as comments from US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.The US data today will be followed on Friday by the Fed's preferred inflation gauge of core personal consumption expenditures.'The global economy is settling into a newfound stability and central banks can continue to cautiously cut

With just over a month to go until the US presidential elections, Shares takes stock of where the two candidates stand in the polls and what the implications of a Democrat or Republican victory would mean for investors.There is no question the televised debate earlier this month was negative for Donald Trump, to the extent he refused to schedule a re-match.Yet, despite his poor performance, voting

There are investors who believe that the world's three hyper-scale cloud computing firms ? Amazon (AMZN:NASDAQ), Microsoft (MSFT:NASDAQ) and Alphabet (GOOG:NASDAQ) ? have that market tied up. Shares believes that Oracle (ORCL:NYSE) has a very good chance of crashing the cloud party, that consensus growth estimates could prove too low, and that the stock ? up 60% already this year ? has a great cha

The investment trust sector is in celebratory mood after the Labour government and the FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) announced (19 September) they will exempt London-listed investment trusts from the EU's PRIIPs (Packaged Retail and Insurance-based Investment Products regulation) and Mifid directives that forced them to double-count their costs.Onerous and misleading disclosure requirements ha

There are two political events in the remainder of 2024 on either side of the Atlantic to which investors need to pay full attention.The first of these is Labour's first Budget for 14 years on 30 October, with chancellor Rachel Reeves giving few clues to the details in her speech to the party conference on 23 September.Previous references to 'hard decisions' and those with the 'broadest shoulders'

Stock prices in London were higher at midday on Wednesday, with the FTSE 100 outperforming its European peers after news that the UK has overtaken several G7 countries on economic growth forecasts.The Organisation for Economic Co-operation & Development has placed the UK joint second in its economic growth forecasts for the rest of 2024.The prediction of 1.1% growth for the whole of this year puts

Adjusted profits down 65.7%Final dividend passedMarket growth 'could soon return'Indebted sofa seller DFS Furniture (DFS) lurched into loss for the year to June 2024 and passed the final dividend following a year marred by weak spending on big ticket items and Red Sea supply disruption.Yet shares in the clear UK living room furniture leader ticked up 2.5% to 117.8p in early dealings on Wednesday t

Blue-chip equities in Europe were on the up heading to Tuesday afternoon, with miners and luxury retail on top after stimulus measures in China were unveiled.Among the measures was a cut to the reserve requirement ratio, which dictates the amount of cash banks must hold in reserve.Lloyds analysts, however, commented: 'It feels like we've been here before when it comes to headline-grabbing bouts of

Missed on core profit and marginsStock slumps 8% to six-week lowPreviously faced break-up callsThere is 'panic on the streets of London' as Smiths (SMIN) missed headline profit and margin targets. While there were some pluses in the engineering outfit's annual results to end July, it is difficult to dress up the fact that headline profit was limp.The share price tanked 8% to £16.84, a six-week lo

First half profits plungeFirst interim dividend in five yearsFull year guidance unchangedFollowing a stunning run into the numbers, shares in Card Factory (CARD) cheapened 16% to 121p after the value-focused greeting cards-to-party supplies retailer delivered a drop in first half earnings and warned full year profits will be second half weighted.While some investors took profits on the unnerving n

First quarter sales and earnings miss2025 profit guidance reducedCustomers trading down to cheaper servicesInvestors often look to logistics giant FedEx (FDX:NYSE) for clues on the state of the US and global economy and the latest health check is not encouraging.The company missed first quarter Wall Street earnings by a wide margin and lowered fiscal 2025 profit guidance, sending its shares down 1

John Donahoe to step downNew CEO Hill has successful track recordNo quick fix for Nike's problemsNike's (NKE:NYSE) shares surged 6.8% higher to $86.5 in after-hours trading on Wall Street after the company announced that veteran Elliott Hill is coming out of retirement to take the reins as chief executive officer. You can see why the mood has been lifted. John Donahoe, who has been in the hot seat

Retailer inches towards £1 billion profit markPre-tax profit guidance increased by £15 million'Exceptional' growth overseasClothing and homewares retailer Next (NXT) has raised its year-to-January-2025 profit guidance for the second time in two months.In fact, the high street stalwart is now on the verge of joining the £1 billion pre-tax profit club, quite an achievement considering the difficu

Diageo(DGE) £25.12Market cap: £55.9 billionInvestors seeking a high-quality consumer staple that is currently on sale should consider buying Diageo (DGE), the world's largest premium spirits company which is growing its market share around the globe. Shares in the premium drinks maker behind iconic brands Johnnie Walker whisky, Smirnoff vodka and Guinness stout are down 20% over one year. This r

Chip maker Intel (INTC:NASDAQ) plans to split out its chip manufacturing operations from its design capabilities in a strategic move that it hopes will help reinvigorate growth and halt its dismal share price performance.The Santa Clara-based business hopes that spinning out its Intel Foundry Services arm will provide external foundry customers and suppliers with greater separation from Intel's co

HVIVO (HVO:AIM) 28.2pMarket cap: £191.9 millionFluCamp does not sound like much fun for volunteers, but for leading CRO (contract research organisation) HVIVO (HVO:AIM) it represents a flagship service which is attracting growing interest from big pharma and biotechnology companies.The company is at the forefront of HCTs (human challenge trials), a fast-growing niche within the large CRO industry