UK shares made a hesitant start to the new week, with a strong pound holding back export-oriented shares and lower oil prices knocking the energy sector.Brent crude fell 1% to $65.4 a barrel and the pound gained 0.3% against the US dollar to $1.39.Overnight trading in Asia was mixed with Japan's Nikkei 225 gaining 0.3% and China's Composite index losing 0.95%.At 9am the FTSE 100 index of...

UK stocks opened higher on Thursday amid increasing signs that the UK and EU were poised to sign a post-Brexit trade deal.At around 8.30am, the benchmark FTSE 100 index moved 0.3% higher to 6,516.98.The more domestically-focused FTSE 250, considered a barometer for Brexit sentiment, gained 0.54% to 20,408.16.Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to hold a press conference later on Thursday...

London's FTSE 100 was on the front foot on Monday, the blue chip benchmark advancing 67 points higher to 7,184.2 early on, consolidating gains from Friday and building on a positive session in Asia with investors braced for a wave of monetary and fiscal stimulus.Despite ongoing warnings about the impact of a no-deal Brexit, investors focused on President Trump's reassurances that Washington...

Clinical trial services provider Ixico (IXI:AIM) is under pressure as it posts a significantly widened full year operating loss of £2.9m due to higher costs. Shares in Ixico have fallen 12% to 33p.The company supports clinical studies for serious diseases such as dementia.Ixico blames costs incurred by the acquisition of Optimal Medicine and its planned investment in digital technologies, as...

Addiction treatment specialist Indivior's (INDV) shares marched almost 20% higher to 359.6p on 17 August 2016 thanks to news about a phase III clinical trial.The late stage tests appear to prove the £2.3 billion cap's opioid addiction treatment works, moving it closer to market approval and $500 million of potential sales by 2020, according to stockbroker Numis.The market's very positive...

London equities begin the week on the front foot in early trade on Monday after a gruelling Friday session saw key indices plumb depths not seen for some time. Today's boost comes from reassuring action by China's central bank which has introduced measures to stem capital outflows. The People's Bank of China said on Monday it will start implementing a reserve requirement ratio (RRR) on...

London shares stumble marginally lower in early trade on Monday with little news driven direction coming from corporates. Wall Street ended last week in positive territory and Europe's main markets have started the new week on a firmer footing, but the FTSE 100 index slips around 10 points to 6,389, with midcaps and smaller companies also dipping a fraction lower.Broadcaster UTV Media (UTV) is...

Shares in London stay flat in early trading on Friday, taking a breather after a strong recovery on Thursday when the FTSE 100 rose by more than 3.5%. In early deals the UK benchmark index is fractionally off about 6 points at 6,186, while the midcap FTSE 250 makes modest 7 point gains to 16,927.A short time ago the FTSE 100 was up 10.46 points, or 0.17%, at 6,202.49. The FTSE 250 was 55.95...

Stock markets across Europe suffer steep falls in early trade on Monday as the Greece debt crisis intensifies amid a swathe of capital controls imposed by Greek leaders and calls for a referendum on bailout terms. French, German and Spanish stock markets all start the week's trading deep in the red, while the EU-wide Euro Stoxx 50 index slumps close to 3.5%, just about keeping its head above...

UK markets again drift lower in opening deals as investors mull a weak end to Wall Street trading and a similarly fade out on Asian markets overnight, although gains by oil giant BP (BP.) limited today's declines. The FTSE 100 index is trading 0.3% off at 6,482 in early action as China's economy showed renewed weakness and crude oil remained below $50 a barrel. Britain's mid caps struggle...

London's blue chip benchmark opens up 18.63 points at 6,749.9, as investors continue to bet on further stimulus ahead in the eurozone, with miners including Antofagasta (ANTO) and Petropavlovsk (POG) in demand.One of the biggest risers early on is consumer payments platform Paypoint (PAY), which perks up 5.5% to 976.5p as excitement mounts ahead of tomorrow's interim results. Investors will be...

Investors were confronted by renewed volatility this autumn reflected in the performance of the UK's headline index. Nudging year highs above 6,900 in early September the FTSE 100 collapsed to less than 6,200 in mid-October as worries about global economic growth dominated the agenda before recovering to the 6,600 mark as sentiment improved.The good news is there are two main ways of profiting...

CLS looks too cheapIt's a good time to gain exposure to European property investor CLS' (CLI) pipeline, which includes assets forming part of Vauxhall's redevelopment in South London. At £13.10 a share the stock trades at a 13.2% discount to Liberum's expected £15.09 net asset value per share at December 2014. (MD)Innovation's poundingInvestors in insurance outsourcing software supplier...

Rising demand for new and improved drugs has created an opportunity that appears to be stronger today than it has ever been. The global pharmaceutical industry will be worth $400 billion a year by 2017, up from $300 billion today, the World Health Organisation forecasts.Improving longevity mixed with rising lifestyle related-conditions in developed countries, such as type II diabetes, and a...

Niche drug maker Shire (SHP) has finally cracked under pressure and agreed to a merger with US pharmaceuticals group AbbVie (ABBV:NYSE). News that the board has recommended a £53.19 per share cash and shares offer sees Shire's stock rise 1.9% to £48.97, implying that the market sees this as a done deal. The agreement, which values the UK company at £32 billion, appears to have ended a drawn...

Technology and healthcare investor Imperial Innovations (IVO:AIM) falls 1% to 442.8p on a fourth portfolio company going public in the past nine months.Life sciences tool-maker Abzena is the latest of its companies to target growing sentiment for healthcare. It raised £20 million and shares will start trading on AIM this Thursday (10 Jul) at 80p each, valuing the company at £77.9...

Respiratory disease-focused drug developer Verona Pharma (VRP:AIM) saw its share price collapse after one of its drugs in development choked clinical trials. Shares in the company fell by more than 40% to 1.2p, swiping more than £8 million of its market value, the company having revealed that its VRP700 chronic severe cough treatment failed to make a difference over placebo in stage IIa...

After years of investors shunning it for being too risky, the British health care industry's time has finally come. Few equities have generated such excitement in the past 12 months as biotechnology and pharmaceutical firms thanks to the anticipated demand for new treatments.Booming populations, increasing longevity, a rise in lifestyle-related diseases such as diabetes and a growing middle...

The quest to cure cat and dust mite allergies appears an unlikely spark of a revolution. Yet the significance of Circassia Pharmaceutical's (CIR) initial public offering (IPO) is hard to avoid.The Oxford-based concern is the first biotechnology company to be admitted (18 Mar) to London's Main Market in years raising £200 million, above expectations for £175 million in the 'biggest-ever...

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) slips 1.6% to 331.2p as Nathan Bostock resignsas finance director after only 10 weeks in the job. His successor is yet to be named. Bostock is to join rival bank Santander (BNC) as deputy chief executive of its UK operations.FirstGroup (FGP) is under attack from activist investor Sandell. Proposals to break up the transport operator excite the market as the share...