Second quarter better than feared Sales down in North America, ChinaTurnaround more marathon than sprintFollowing an initial bounce in after-hours trading on Wall Street stoked by better-than-feared second-quarter results (19 December), Nike's (NKE:NYSE) shares stumbled to trade roughly flat on the realisation the sportswear firm's turnaround will take longer than expected.There was also disappoin

UK equities suffered on US exposure as they closed lower on Thursday amid the Bank of England holding interest rates, but warning of 'heightened uncertainty'.UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer pleaded for patience over his drive to improve living standards, warning it 'will take some time' for people to feel the benefits.Starmer hopes changes to planning rules, reforms to regulations and the use of te

UK indices remained in the red at midday on Thursday but with water companies bucking the trend following UK regulator Ofwat green lighting a substantial industry investment package.Interest rate calls on either side of the Atlantic dominated events with the Bank of England leaving rates unchanged, after a 'hawkish' cut by the US Federal Reserve on Wednesday.The BoE's Monetary Policy Committee vot

Q2 guidance very weak versus consensusMicron stock plunges 15% after-hoursAnalysts say HBM story 'remains intact'Missing forecasts seldom goes down well with investors and soggy guidance is usually equally unsavoury to markets, so it comes as little surprise that Micron Technology's (MU:NASDAQ) soft outlook sparked a hefty stock reaction.Shares in the memory chipmaker plunged 15% overnight after s

Few doubt that 2025 will be another huge year for AI, but when looking for interesting investment opportunities, investors can sometimes allow details to obscure the bigger picture. In our view, Alphabet (GOOG:NASDAQ) remains an outstanding growth business with strong AI levers to pull, currently trading a large discount to other 'Magnificent Seven' stocks.This valuation gap will, we believe, narr

Ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East and calls from incoming US president Donald Trump for NATO members to increase defence spending as a percentage of national income will continue to provide a tailwind for the defence sector.AIM-quoted Cohort (CHRT:AIM) is well positioned to benefit from an increase in defence spending and at the first-half results on 11 December, the group disclosed

It may have had a tough time of late but consumer electronics and technology hardware outfit Samsung (005930:KRX) still dominates the South Korean market.If you include the preference shares it has a near-30% weighting in the MSCI Korea index. However, there are some other interesting businesses beyond Samsung. Number two is SK Hynix (000660:KRX) which is one of the world's largest semiconductor v

Anyone who has walked past a building site in the UK recently might well have seen Kier (KIE) branding on it. This infrastructure and construction services outfit is actively at work on more than 400 developments across the UK. Having emerged from a difficult period with much stronger foundations, this improvement is not yet reflected in its current valuation, but we think that will change through

After what has been a poor year for UK listings, the London Stock Exchange could afford to celebrate this week with the float of French media group Canal+ (CAN) which debuted with a market value of around £2.5 billion.Although the shares were listed in London, and at that value would normally be eligible for inclusion in the FTSE 250 mid-cap index, they are excluded as the company is still French

1. Tariffs: President-elect Donald Trump has indicated he will impose new tariffs on three of America's leading trading partners. He plans to sign an executive order placing 25% tariffs on goods imported from Canada and Mexico on day one of his presidency, with an additional 10% on goods from China. This is on top of earlier plans for 60% tariffs on China and 10%-20% on all other imports to the Un

Pubs group JD Wetherspoon's (JDW) value credentials continue to shine through. According to fund manager Anna Farmbrough at Ninety One the company has doubled its average price advantage over competitors to 40% since the pandemic.Farmbrough notes that a few years ago there were three pubs in her local area while today there is just a single Wetherspoons, demonstrating its ability to benefit as con

Strange as it may sound, the pandemic turned out to be a blessing in disguise for the auction industry as it forced firms to join the 21st century and offer an online service.Whereas previously many small auction houses were limited to the number of buyers they could accommodate due to lack of physical space, today they can not only tap into their local market but a whole army of online punters at

UK indices were down at the close on Tuesday, as Bunzl warned deflation will have a impact on profitability.The FTSE 100 index closed down 66.85 points, 0.8%, at 8,195.20. The FTSE 250 ended 270.17 points lower, 1.3%, at 20,542.86, and the AIM All-Share gave back 7.45 points, 1.0%, at 722.04.The Cboe UK 100 ended down 0.7% at 823.10, the Cboe UK 250 fell 1.4% at 18,067.65, and the Cboe Small Compa

Stock prices in London closed lower on Monday, as Canal+ shares slumped on their first day of London trading and Entain fell as it faces an Australian investigation.The FTSE 100 index closed down 38.28 points, 0.5%, at 8,262.05. The FTSE 250 ended 76.12 points lower, 0.4%, at 20,813.03, and the AIM All-Share gave back 3.87 points, 0.5%, at 729.49.The Cboe UK 100 ended down 0.5% at 828.87, the Cboe

European stocks were down at midday in London, as new economic data from China showed continued sluggish domestic consumption.China's retail sales growth weakened last month, official data showed on Monday, missing forecasts as demand remains muted in the world's number two economy. Retail sales expanded 3% year-on-year in November, the National Bureau of Statistics said, slowing from a 4.8% rise

Stock prices in Europe were mostly lower on Monday morning, as UK consumer confidence deteriorated while France's credit rating received a downgrade from Moody's.China's retail sales growth weakened last month, missing forecasts as demand remains muted in the world's number two economy.Retail sales expanded 3% year-on-year in November, the National Bureau of Statistics said, slowing from a 4.8% ri

UK indices were down at Friday's close as Resolute Mining announced a temporary change in its senior management, with Chief Executive Terry Holohan taking a leave of absence.In UK news, ministers will be given new powers to drive forward clean power energy projects as part of a major action plan to reach 95% clean energy in the UK by 2030.Speaking to BBC Breakfast, Miliband confirmed that minister

European stocks were higher heading into Friday afternoon, shaking off disappointing UK data, while Paris shares were up after a new prime minister was named.The FTSE 100 index traded up 12.74 points, 0.2%, at 8,324.50. The FTSE 250 was up 23.30 points, 0.1%, at 20,972.34, and the AIM All-Share was down 1.59 points, 0.2%, at 735.97.The Cboe UK 100 was 0.2% higher at 835.95, the Cboe UK 250 was up

Key UK indices were broadly flat at Thursday's close as the ECB decided to 'play it safe' with interest rate cuts.Also, the UK prime minister has said providing homes for people must be the 'top priority' over nature and the environment as government reforms are set to allow more building on the green belt.A shake-up of planning rules means councils have been given mandatory targets to deliver a t

Predicting what will happen to the global economy and markets over the next 12 months is hard enough at the best of times, but with Trump's election victory on 5 November that job has become even more difficult.As Deutsche Bank's head of global economics and thematics Jim Reid put it, the outlook is no longer 'business as usual' which opens up a much wider range of potential outcomes for the globa