UK equity markets started Thursday's trading session on a positive note ahead of key interest rate decisions from both the Bank of England and the European Central Bank.Last month inflation reached a 10 year high of 5.1%, which is more than double the official target.However the emergence of the Omicron variant, and recent government guidance to restrict socialising has added a new degree of compl

Amid several instances of directors selling big chunks of shares in the last week there were also some notable purchases.The wife of the chief executive of life insurance firm Phoenix (PHNX) snapped up nearly £400,000 worth of shares on 6 September. Suzanne Briggs, married to Andrew Briggs who took the helm in February 2020, bought 63,398 shares at 631p.BUYING ON STRONG RESULTSThe purchase follow

The FTSE 100 index encountered continued selling pressure during Wednesday's afternoon session closing 0.63% lower at 7104.50. The FTSE 250 index also ended the day down by 0.93% at 23,873.25.This was partly in response to comments from James Bullard, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis who suggested the Fed would start tapering before the end of this year. All the major US equity in

At 1pm, the FTSE 100 traded 0.4% lower at 7,123 as investors across Europe and the US started to fret about a weakening in the economic outlook. Real estate, healthcare, mining, industrials and financial sectors were all in negative territory.Value retailer B&M bucked the negative market trend by exciting investors with a bullish trading update. It said first-half results would beat analyst foreca

The FTSE 100 was up 0.2% to 7,542.81 with sterling remaining under pressure on the revelation the new Conservative government plans to legislate against an extension to the Brexit transition period.Education group Pearson (PSON) gained 3% to 663p on news that it had agreed to sell its remaining 25% stake in book publisher Penguin Random House to partner Bertelsmann for around $675m (£530m).Procee

London's FTSE 100 falls to a seventh-month low of 6,983 on Tuesday, with markets flashing red across Europe and Asia amid geopolitical tensions focused on Saudi Arabia, a falling oil price, Italy's budget issues and ongoing Brexit concerns among many other issues.Leisure leviathan Whitbread (WTB) weakens 75p or 1.7% to £43.89 after booking a flat first half profit with sales growth constrained by

With a new sole portfolio manager in charge of the investment decisions and a discount that has narrowed from 15.7% at as 30 November to 6.3% at the time of writing, Shares believes this is an exciting time for shareholders in the BlackRock Throgmorton Trust (THRG).Often overlooked, despite boasting the best ten-year share price total return performance record in the Association of Investment Comp

Henderson Smaller Companies Investment Trust (HSL) is managed with aplomb by Janus Henderson's Neil Hermon. He has outperformed the Numis Smaller Companies benchmark in thirteen of the last fourteen financial years.Boasting £845m of assets under management, the trust aims to maximise shareholders' total returns by investing in a portfolio of UK-quoted smaller companies. Hermon defines UK smaller