According to the ONS (Office for National Statistics), retail sales volumes were much stronger than expected in May, following a wet April, in news which will be welcomed by the sector's long-suffering constituents.!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var t in a.data["datawrap

Retail bellwether Marks & Spencer's (MKS) latest results (22 May) suggest the food, fashion and furniture seller has embarked on the turnaround which has been long in the making with many false dawns down the years.Shares in the FTSE 100 retailer are at a fresh five-year high of 300p following the delivery of forecast-beating full-year figures and a first final dividend since 2019. Yet despite the

Market share gains in clothing and foodFull-year dividend restoredCost savings target increasedShares in Marks & Spencer (MKS) topped the FTSE 100 leader board on Wednesday, rallying 9.1% to a five-year high of 298.6p after the retail giant's full-year results breezed past consensus estimates, prompting Shore Capital to proclaim that 'M&S is back baby!'.Chief executive Stuart Machin's turnaround p

It has been a turbulent couple of months for value retailer Shoe Zone (SHOE), which seems to have metamorphosed from cost-of-living-crisis winner to stock market pariah on the strength of a single comment by chief executive Anthony Smith.In the firm?s extremely brief AGM statement in mid-March, Smith celebrated a successful year of growth in 2023 while cautioning current-year trading was ?marginal

Full-price sales up 5.7%Full-year guidance unchangedFirm outperforming the marketHigh-street retailer Next (NXT) beat expectations with its first-quarter trading update but tempered its outlook for the second quarter so as to leave its full-year guidance unchanged.Traders took the opportunity to top-slice the shares, which have gained over 12% this year, sending them lower by 72p or 0.8%. O

With shares in UK high-street bellwether Next (NXT) trading close to all-time highs above £90 despite the recent pull-back in markets, there is a fair bit riding on its upcoming first-quarter trading update (1 May).When it posted full-year results in late March, the firm said it had been ?a long time since we started a year in a more positive frame of mind? after a better-than-expected performanc

After almost closing at a new high in early April, the UK?s blue-chip FTSE 100 has finally made it into the ranks of indices hitting new all-time highs thanks to a 4.5% gain since the start of January.On 22 April the index reached its highest ever close and on 23 April it moved through its previous intra-day high.The UK clearly isn?t in the same league as the US, where the S&P 500 has notched up n

The ISA turns 25 on 6 April 2024 and few would argue that the tax-efficient savings wrapper has been anything other than a raging success story. Something like 22 million Brits have one, attracting somewhere over £700 billion of cash and stock market investments since 1999. In the coming 12-months, ISA investors will save an estimated £7 billion in tax.Hundreds of ISA millionaires are thoughts t

Shareholders in retail bellwether Next (NXT) were breaking out the champagne after the stock price hit a new lifetime high on the release of forecast-beating results for the year to January (21 March).Full-price sales rose a better-than-expected 4%, with growth driven by strong online trading, suggesting the retailer?s offering continues to resonate with shoppers.Chief executive Simon Wolfson open

Record profits deliveredFY25 guidance reiteratedOverseas developments exciteShares in Next (NXT) rallied 5.4% to an all-time high of £89.66 on Thursday after the fashion and homeware retailer reported forecast-beating results for the year to January 2024 and reiterated its full year 2025 guidance.Investors? spirits were buoyed by comments from chief executive Simon Wolfson, described as a ?retail

Stock prices in London opened higher on Thursday, ahead of a flash UK PMI reading and the next interest rate decision by the Bank of England.Stocks on Wall Street got a boost on Wednesday, after the US Federal Reserve was surprisingly dovish and left its three rate cuts unchanged from the December dot plot.Eyes now turn onto the Bank of England which will announce its own interest rate decision at

More and more UK companies are buying back their own shares. Data collected by Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, shows share buybacks at FTSE 100 companies are running at an aggregate value of £18.3 billion so far in 2024.Despite being only two months into the year, the value of buybacks already equates to 35% of the whole value of buybacks in 2023.This isn?t just a UK phenomenon either

Buybacks are heavily in fashion with UK companies right now. The latest names to declare sizeable share buybacks include Barclays (BARC) and InterContinental Hotels (IHG), which between them plan to repurchase more than £1.5 billion worth of stock this year. Notably, Shell (SHEL), which cut its dividend for the first time since the Second World War in 2020, has shifted towards large buybacks in r

The retail sector accounts for £104 billion of the FTSE 350 index by value of its 22 constituents, making it of significant importance to the UK stock market and to any investor with exposure to UK equities.The fortunes of retailers can tell us about the state of the consumer and in turn provide clues on economic activity. Therefore, even if you do not have exposure to individual stocks in this s

Although financial companies traditionally signal the start of the US earnings season, next week is when the tech heavyweights begin reporting starting with Microsoft (MSFT:NASDAQ) on 23 January. Expect AI (artificial intelligence) to continue to dominate the commentary with all eyes on Copilot and Azure growth. Microsoft has emerged as the top AI software story over the past year, with real-world

Clothing and homewares giant Next (NXT) appears to be doing no wrong at the start of the year.The retailer raised its pre-tax profit guidance for the year ending 27 January 2024 after benefiting from strong Christmas sales.The FTSE 100 shares are testing all-time highs after bumping up its earning guidance by £20 million to £905 million against its most recent forecast of £885 million and from

Homewares industry rival Next (NXT) set the bar high with its strong Christmas trading update and latest profit upgrade, so there is pressure on UK market leader Dunelm (DNLM) not to disappoint with its second quarter update on 18 January, which includes the festive selling period.Another stand-out retail sector performer, Dunelm rarely disappoints and Shares suspects the FTSE 250 bedding, curtain

Osmond makes major investmentWolfson sells more sharesNext finance director also sellsAs Michael Douglas?s character Gordon Gekko says in the film Wall Street, money never sleeps, and it seems some of the UK?s most high-profile entrepreneurs were busy dealing over the Christmas and New Year holidays.Hospitality veteran Hugh Osmond, whose CV includes floating Pizza Express and founding Punch Tavern

Firm rakes in money on higher ratesPanama and Suez passages chokedUK retailers could be affectedShares in shipbroking and shipping services group Clarkson (CKN) were the stand-out performer in the FTSE 250 after chief executive Andi Case raised the outlook for full-year earnings.Clarkson shares jumped as much as 9.5% to £35.95, taking them to a new 12-month high and straight to the top of the mid

Festive trading better than expectedOnline channel drives growthConsumer backdrop looks ?more benign?Clothing and homewares colossus Next (NXT) has once again raised its pre-tax profit guidance for the year ending 27 January 2024, after sales around the key Christmas period proved better than expected.As a result, Lord Wolfson-led Next has bumped up its earnings guidance by £20 million to £905 m