It has been a disappointing start to 2024 for luckless investors in specialist instrument and life-science device-maker Gooch & Housego (GHH).The company's share price dropped like a stone in mid-February when the Somerset-based manufacturer warned pre-tax profit for the year to September would be £3 million, missing market expectations.The firm blamed customers in the industrial and medical lase

The UK equity market managed to consolidate early gains during Tuesday's trading session. The FTSE 100 Index ended the session 0.94% higher at 7077.10 and the midcap FTSE 250 Index ended the session 0.33% higher at 22,730.65.The UK market benefited from a strong opening across American equity markets where investors bought technology stocks following recent weakness.This was reflected in the perf

UK stocks continued to trade in positive territory through the morning, despite the release of figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders showing a 34% slump in car registrations to the lowest level since September 1988.The shock figure was a result of weak consumer confidence on the one hand and a widespread shortage of semiconductors coupled with supply bottlenecks on the other,

Major UK stocks headed higher in early trade on Tuesday, defying the tech-led sell-off in New York overnight, with banks, energy, travel, and retail leading the way.At 9am, the benchmark FTSE 100 was trading 0.6% higher at 7,048.63, with mid-caps also firmer, the FTSE 250 making 0.35% gains to 22,731.57.Wall Street saw overnight chaos fed by the worldwide outage of Facebook's various apps, which k

The FTSE 100 endured a bumpy ride on Wednesday, reversing morning declines to finish the day higher as optimism gathered on ending lockdown restrictions in the coming weeks and that the summer tourist season may be saved if the planned timetable is met.Fears of a return of meaningful inflation pushing interest rates higher had weighed on investors early on, with the strong pound also hitting expor

The FTSE 100 was enduring a bumpy ride on Wednesday, reversing morning declines to post modest gains at lunchtime.Fears of a return of meaningful inflation pushing interest rates higher and the strong pound hitting exporters acting as a drag during the early session wore thin as optimism gathered on hopes that tourists may be able to head off on holidays if the lockdown restrictions are eased as p

Despite optimism over vaccine rollouts, London's FTSE 100 opened lower on Wednesday as a strengthening pound weighed on exporters and investors continued to worry about global inflation risks.By 8.35 am, the blue chip benchmark was off 0.5% at 6,595.1 points, while the FTSE 250 was 0.2% higher at 21,090.6.LLOYDS RESUMES DIVIDENDHigh street bank Lloyds (LLOY) rose 2.6% to 40.2p early on after resum

Lasers to life sciences technology business Gooch & Housego (GHH:AIM) is among the latest batch of UK-listed companies to warn investors that it could face a short-term queasy spell from the coronavirus.The £333m AIM 100 constituent designs and manufactures various optical components used in microelectronics, semiconductor, telecoms networks and life science markets.Today the photonics technology

London's FTSE 100 firms 18.7 points to trade at 7,197.8 on Wednesday, boosted by share price gains from the banking and mining sectors, while markets across mainland Europe and Asia also take a step forward.Supermarket J Sainsbury (SBRY) slumps 15.3% to 244p as the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) says its planned £7.3bn takeover of Walmart-owned Asda could push up prices and reduce the qu

A well-known fund manager who in his previous job generated nearly four times as much money for investors than the broader market is back with a new fund.Paul Marriage made his name at Cazenove and Schroders, particularly with Schroder UK Dynamic Small Companies Fund (0721936) which returned 435% versus 114% from the benchmark FTSE Small Cap index in the 11 years he ran the fund.Marriage left Schr

There's a neat trick investors can use to gain exposure to international earnings without buying a single overseas-listed stock. The US, Europe, China, India plus emerging markets in Latin America, Asia, Africa and the Middle East are all accessible from the relative comfort of the London stock market.Companies in the FTSE 100 collectively earn far more from overseas markets than they do from the

UK markets are boosted early on Wednesday by a takeover offer for BG (BG.) and hopes for more merger and acquisition activity. The benchmark FTSE 100 index is again pressing the key 7,000 level, up around 28 points, or 0.4%, at 6,990, while midcaps are also on the rise, the FTSE 250 close to 0.4% higher at 17,562.Royal Dutch Shell's (RDSB) £47 billion bid for BG - which you can read about in deta

Eagle Eye (EYE:AIM) 165pAIM is littered with strugglers chasing the mobile commerce dream but Eagle Eye is off to a decent start. SMS marketing and vouchers space has potential, but this is also high-risk territory.Earthport (EPO:AIM) 45.25pNew management is key to ending years of failure and cash calls. Making rapid progress to promised global platform for medium-sized cross-border payments goal.

'We are one of the best ways to invest in genuine UK small cap companies,' says Stuart Widdowson, manager of Strategic Equity Capital (SEC), an investment trust offering exposure to the emerging asset class that is private-public hybrid investing. The trust aims to achieve absolute returns over the medium term by employing the proven strategies of GVO Investment Management (GVOIM), its investment

RESULTS ? Tuesday 3 December ? Finals ? Gooch & Housego (GHH:AIM)Photonics technology developer Gooch & Housego (GHH:AIM) hopes to double revenues in fives years, so some steer on future acquisitions is possible in these figures. The market will also focus on new orders, where many technology firms are suffering some slippage. With big research commitments and a 2014 price/earnings (PE) multiple

Oil and gas fans were treated to a plethora of news today as companies big and small updated on projects and issued financial results. Leading the pack was £1.9 billion cap Premier Oil (PMO) which advanced 3.7% to 376.1p after the group flagged a 'potentially significant' oil discovery in Norway. The Luno II prospect in the Norwegian North Sea will now be flow tested to establish if it is a comme