Stock prices in London were down at midday Wednesday, after bad news for the UK's manufacturing sector and ahead of the US Fed's interest rate decision.The FTSE 100 index was down 8.98 points, 0.1%, at 7,312.74. The FTSE 250 was down 83.56 points, 0.5%, at 16,999.49, and the AIM All-Share was down 0.51 of a point, 0.1%, at 679.34.The Cboe UK 100 was down slightly at 729.70 and the Cboe UK 250 was

There is growing evidence from industrial surveys that supply chains are starting to ease in some areas of manufacturing, although the global economy is still far from 'normal' as we enter 2023 and a return to growth is a long way off.According to the IFO research institute, companies in Germany are experiencing 'noticeably fewer' material shortages than previously.In December, 50.7% of manufactur

Shares in innovative textiles maker HeiQ (HEIQ) jumped as much as 9% to 92p after the firm revealed it had received commercial backing from German apparel group Hugo Boss.The two companies have signed an agreement to develop and market HeiQ's latest high-performance, climate positive, cellulose yarn, with BOSS investing $5 million in HeiQ subsidiary AeoniQ to help fund its pilot manufacturing plan

A slump in earnings triggered a 20% sell-off in HeiQ's (HEIQ) share price to 105.85p on 28 September. That means its share price has now halved year-to-date.The materials company suffered a 14.3% drop in first-half sales to $25.8 million, partially due to delays in starting a major contract.Compounding matters was a 7.2 percentage points decrease in gross margins to 50.2% caused by price pressures

A combination of factors including sagging US consumer confidence, a spate of downgrades to China's economic growth forecasts and renewed inflationary concerns weighed on UK stocks towards the end of Tuesday's trading session.The FTSE 100 Index closed 0.4% lower at 7031 and the FTSE 250 Index finished the session 1.6% lower at 23,233 points.Economists have cut their growth forecasts for the Chines

Fears that inflationary pressures will be more persistent than originally anticipated, coupled with concerns regarding the winding up of the UK furlough scheme weighed on both the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 Indexes during lunchtime trading.At midday the former had slipped by 0.4% to 7031 while the latter had given up 1.6% to 23,233 points. The recent rally in crude oil prices has reignited concerns tha

UK stocks dropped at the open on Tuesday as the fuel crisis sweeping the country showed no signs of easing. To make matters worse, Brent crude oil prices surged to a three-year high over $80 per barrel, pushing up prices at the pump, and UK and European natural gas price hit new records.By 8.45am the FTSE 100 index was down 30 points or 0.4% to 7,035 points as weakness in miners and industrials ou

UK stocks got off to a positive start on Friday despite GDP data for May coming in below expectations.Data from the office of national statistics showed the economy grew 0.8% year-on-year in May, slower than the 2% recorded in April.Construction and manufacturing output contracted slightly indicating the economic recovery may be losing some steam. Despite this, the pound remained stable trading fl

UK stocks got off to a positive start on Friday despite GDP data for May coming in below expectations.Data from the office of national statistics showed the economy grew 0.8% year-on-year in May, slower than the 2% recorded in April.Construction and manufacturing output contracted slightly indicating the economic recovery may be losing some steam. Despite this, the pound remained stable trading fl

Materials innovation company HeiQ (HEIQ) released maiden full year results on Wednesday showing revenues up 80% to $50.4 million and after-tax profit up 587% to $4.9 million.Revenues were around 3% higher than the market expected while profits were pretty much in line as indicated in the 26 January trading update. The shares added 2.3% to 202p.Last year represented a tipping point for HeiQ after l

Shares in materials innovation company HeiQ (HEIQ) gained 4% to 207.1p on Friday after announcing an exclusive five-year contract to supply ICP Group with the company's proven antimicrobial technology Viroblock.The five-year contract is expected to deliver a minimum $30 million of royalty revenues ($8 million in the first two years), in exchange for global rights to use the company's Viroblock tec

There was a lot of hype around the recent stock market flotation of HeiQ (HEIQ), with investors excited about its ability to make materials work better and kill Covid-19 from surfaces.HeiQ. Price: 200p. Market cap: £251 millionIt raised money by issuing shares at 112p and reversing into cash shell Auctus Growth in December 2020. A month later the stock had more than doubled in price to 240p but t

Shares in antimicrobial textiles specialist HeiQ (HEIQ) plunged 17% to 195.7p on Tuesday as profit taking took hold following an in-line first trading update.The shares came to the market on 7 December after the company raised £60 million at 112p giving the company a market capitalisation of £141 million.Before today's correction the shares had doubled in value as investors got exited by the pot

A trio of recently floated small caps have seen their shares perform extremely well since IPO, confirmation that new issues with compelling growth narratives can deliver impressive rapid-fire returns.Swiss-based environmentally-minded materials company HeiQ (HEIQ) debuted on the Main Market on 7 December following a £60 million raise at 112p and has more than doubled to 240.3p on excitement surro

In the first of a two-part series Shares invites top fund managers to reveal which stocks they were most pleased with in 2020, which stocks they were most disappointed in, and which they have high hopes for in 2021.Their answers reveal an interesting mix of names across the market cap spectrum. Recent float, materials company HeiQ (HEIQ), for example, crops up twice in this set of responses. We wi

When a company makes a claim that its fabric coating kills all known bacteria and viruses including Covid-19 within 30 minutes and has a shelf-life of up to seven years, it tends to get attention.The Viroblock product from Swiss-based HeiQ Materials was originally developed as an antimicrobial for the Ebola crisis in 2013 and now it is seeing strong demand following the Covid-19 pandemic.Investors