There was no cause for celebration last week when gift card and wrapping paper maker IG Design (IGR:AIM) warned its full-year results would be 'significantly below' market forecasts due to problems with its Americas division.On the day (17 January), the shares crashed 83p or 58% and they continue to move lower due to third-quarter trading which was negatively impacted by 'challenging retail...

Americas hit by weak seasonal salesSome big customers in difficultyOther customers delaying ordersIt was a dark day for shareholders in celebration products maker IG Design (IGR:AIM) after the firm warned full-year earnings would be 'significantly below' current market forecasts due to problems in its Americas division.The shares lost 86p or more than 60% to 56p, wiping out £80 million of...

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...

Leading UK shares have shrugged-off concerns currently upsetting Wall Street as expectations grow that the Federal Reserve will act more swiftly than previously predicted to try and tame rampant inflation. At the same time, tensions between Ukraine and Russia continue to grow, adding another volatile factor into the mix.At 9am, the benchmark FTSE 100 is close on 1.5% ahead at 7,479.13, not far...

London's FTSE 100 finished Tuesday's trading session 0.76% higher at a fresh 20-month high of 7,277.62 points as UK investors reacted to strong corporate results and a recent decline in Covid cases boosted travel and services sector stocks.Meanwhile, US and European markets rose as excitement around the technology sector grew ahead of earnings from the likes of Microsoft, Google-owner Alphabet...

London's FTSE 100 gained 0.6% to trade at 7,267.11 at midday, a new post-pandemic high as investors reacted to a record close on Wall Street overnight and strong corporate results.Equity markets have adopted a more optimistic tone with the Dow Jones Industrial and S&P 500 closing at record highs on Monday.The NASDAQ composite index also performed strongly driven by gains in PayPal and...

Shares in IG Design (IGR:AIM) slumped 30% to 306p after the consumer gift packaging company warned full year earnings will be 'significantly below' current market expectations as rising costs and supply chain disruption bite.Ominously, the greetings cards, Christmas crackers and creative play products maker also cautioned cost and supply chain headwinds are likely to continue into the second...

The world's largest consumer gift packaging business, IG Design (IGR:AIM), has enjoyed a 'good' start to its new financial year to July 2021 with like-for-like sales up an impressive 25% in the opening four months.IG Design's orderbook for the year remains ahead of the prior year, underpinning a full year sales outlook 'ahead of expectations'.And yet the shares cheapened 1% to 517p as the...

UK stocks nudged higher in early trading on Tuesday as firmer commodity prices boosted mining and oil plays.By 8.40 am, the FTSE 100 index was up 0.2% at 7,121.2 points, while the FTSE 250 traded 0.4% to the good at 23,836.5 points.Major movers included mining titan BHP (BHP), which added 1.3% to £23.37, as well as oil giant BP (BP.), bid up 0.8% to 297.3p.Investor sentiment was boosted by a...

London's FTSE 100 fell in early trading on Monday following the release of disappointing Chinese economic data and amid mounting geopolitical concerns sparked by the Taliban's swift resurgence in Afghanistan.Asian stocks fell overnight after China released disappointing retail sales and industrial production data, amid a surge in Delta coronavirus cases there and elsewhere in the world.The...

UK stocks reversed their morning gains as markets worldwide wobbled after US legislators warned that a bi-partisan deal over up to $1,900 billion of government stimulus may take longer than expected.At the close the FTSE 100 index of leading shares was down 56 points or 0.8% at 6,639 as weakness in travel and financial stocks offset gains in retailers and utilities.Gold prices slipped 0.2% to...

UK stocks gave up their early gains on Monday as a pick-up in merger and acquisition activity was offset by increasing worries over the new strain of the virus.By midday the FTSE 100 index of leading shares was down 20 points or 0.3% to 6,674 as weakness in travel and financial stocks offset gains in retailers and miners.Gold prices slipped 0.2% to $1,851 an ounce and Brent Crude gained 0.5%...

UK stocks opened ahead on Monday buoyed by mergers and acquisition activity but increasing worries over the new strain of the virus kept enthusiasm muted.Trading in Asia was positive with Japan's Nikkei 225 up 0.7% and China's SE Composite up 0.5%. Gold prices slipped 0.2% to $1,851 an ounce and Brent Crude gained 0.5% to $57.5 a barrel.The pound was 0.2% higher at $1.37. At 08:40 the FTSE 100...

London's FTSE 100 firmed 1.7% to 6,567.70 early on in the first trading session of the new year as the UK began vaccinating the population with the new Oxford University/AstraZeneca jab and a rise in oil prices lent the blue chip benchmark some support.AstraZeneca (AZN) advanced 1.7% to £74.45 as the drugs giant also completed the sale of commercial rights to its hypertension medications...

Boss of online pet care and veterinary services firm Pets at Home (PETS) cashed in over £5 million worth of shares last week, having already passed go and collected more than £34,000 of interim dividends at the start of this month.Over a period of three days last week chief executive Peter Pritchard sold around 1.27 million ordinary shares at an average price of 383.98p, raising a total of...

What a year. At the start of 2020 it was all about the political certainty in the UK delivered by the 2019 General Election but within a couple of months attention had turned to a nasty new virus emerging from China.In the circumstances the 4.8% total return from our picks was a solid effort, given they were selected for a reality which was entirely overturned by the pandemic. Certainly, we...

As the value rally gets into swing, the past week has seen a number of company directors take advantage of rising share prices to offload some stock.There were three deals worth over £1 million, with the biggest involving tenpin bowling operator Ten Entertainment (TEG) and one of its non-executive directors, Christopher Mills.Mills this week sold 710,000 shares at 206p each, netting a total...

Despite a strong start for UK shares, driven by renewed hope over a US stimulus package and a coronavirus vaccine, the FTSE 100 finished modestly lower on Monday.Investors were unnerved by another wave of Covid-19 lockdowns in Europe, a disappointing third quarter Chinese growth figure as well as the probability a pandemic stimulus package won't arrive before the US election.By close of play,...

UK shares got off to a strong start on Monday morning as renewed hope over a US stimulus package and a coronavirus vaccine helped investors shrug off concerns over a no-deal Brexit and negative interest rates.Yet by lunchtime, the FTSE 100 was largely flat as the boost from US stimulus hopes, vaccine developments and Chinese economic data waned. US futures suggested Wall Street would manage...

Coronavirus has not been kind to greetings card firm IG Design (IGR:AIM), but shares in the world's largest consumer packaging business rallied 8.8% to 452.5p on Monday.This followed the news it expects to achieve higher first-half revenue and adjusted profit, though management remain understandably cautious over the full-year outlook due the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.STRENGTH IN DIVERSITYA...