Just over five years ago the stock market began to react in earnest to news of the Covid pandemic.The sell-off was short and sharp, with a modest recovery from the lows in the spring followed by sharper gains in November 2020 after AstraZeneca (AZN) made a vaccine breakthrough.However, a large number of UK stocks are still trading below the levels they were at by the close of trading on 21...

Blue chips in London, Paris and Frankfurt opened lower on Monday as UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves failed to lift the mood in the UK with her China trip, amid a modest investment deal.'Surprise! The US economy added more than [250,000] new nonfarm jobs in December, some [90,000] more than expected, and the unemployment rate fell to 4.1%,' explained Swissquote's Ipek Ozkardeskaya. 'If it's any...

Specialty recruitment firm SThree (STEM), which focuses on filling roles in science, technology, engineering and mathematics settings, posted a downbeat trading statement for the 12 months to November and drastically cut its forecast for earnings for the current year.The shares, which were previously down just 11% for the year, slumped as much as 39% intraday before recovering and now stand...

Second-quarter fees down 12%June exit rate even worse, reversing 18%Firm cuts full-year profit goalFTSE 250 firm PageGroup (PAGE) sent the European staffing sector lower across the board after warning soft trading in the second quarter meant full-year profits would be below expectations.PageGroup shares fell as much as 60p, or 15%, to a 12-month low of 360p before recovering to trade down...

The persistently high interest rate environment means companies are under pressure to cut costs and jobs are an obvious target. While they can cut their workforce through redundancies or slash the wage bill through shorter or fewer shifts, others might already be operating with a skeleton crew and cannot pare back any further.It is against this scenario that higher wages are adding to...

Profit from permanent recruitment down 18.6%UK gross profit falls by 19.2%Headcount reduced by 100Shares in PageGroup (PAGE) fell 6% to 456p after the recruitment firm reported a 12.8% fall in group gross profit to £219.7 million for the first quarter of 2024.CEO Nicholas Kirk warned: ?The slower end to the fourth quarter of 2023 continued into the first quarter 2024, particularly within...

London?s FTSE 100, the outperformer on Friday as investors fretted over a possible escalation in the Middle East, was the laggard on Monday in the wake of Iran?s strikes on Israel over the weekend, as the blue-chip index?s oil majors tracked crude prices lower.Large-cap benchmarks in Frankfurt and Paris, which fell on Friday, were on the up on Monday. Stocks in New York tumbled at the end of...

2023 operating profit to disappointClient and candidate confidence weakeningNet cash on balance sheet offers comfortShares in PageGroup (PAGE) weakened 2.5% to 445p after the staffing specialist warned profits for the 2023 calendar year would disappoint with low levels of client and candidate confidence delaying the recruitment process, particularly in the permanent jobs market.Judging by the...

Sharp slowdown in UK job marketShare prices fall across the sectorInterim earnings guidance cutThe European staffing sector became a sea of red on Tuesday with share prices down sharply after FTSE 250 bellwether Hays (HAS) posted a grim account of trading in the three months to the end of December and warned half-year profits would miss expectations.Hays shares were down as much as 19% to 87p...

Six-month operating profits slide 45%Special dividend worth £50 millionTotal payout of £100 million so far this yearRecruitment firm PageGroup (PAGE) posted a slight rise in first-half net fee income but a sharp drop in profits as its conversion rate slumped and costs ate into earnings.However, after an initial drop the shares were in the green by mid-morning up 0.2% to 453p as investors...

Equities in Europe opened in negative territory on Monday, with markets seeing little reason to push higher ahead of inflation data drivers later this week.Inflation readings from the US and China are reported this week, and stock market investors will be hoping for two differing outcomes. In the US, another inflation slowdown is the ideal outcome, as it would take some sting out of Federal...

Temp demand strong as clients stay 'flexible'UK market still difficult to navigateBoth firms keep full-year earnings outlookExecutive recruitment firms Hays (HAS) and PageGroup (PAGE) both stuck to their full-year earnings targets this week even after reporting weak quarterly fee generation.Hays shares eased 1.5% to 103p while PageGroup shares gave up 1.2% after gaining 3% yesterday following...

Shares fall as much as 20%Earnings seen 'significantly' below forecastsRival firms report mid-JulyA second profit warning in less than six months from professional recruitment firm Robert Walters (RWA) has sent a shiver through the staffing sector just when it seemed from most macro data the global job market was in good health.Robert Walters shares opened down as much as 20% at 371p before...

An under-the-radar constituent of the IA UK Equity Income sector that is delivering stellar returns despite difficult market conditions is VT Tyndall Real Income Fund (BYX0D61). Small at £18.9 million of assets, it is big on ambition under the stewardship of manager Simon Murphy and competitive on cost, with a lowly annual management charge of 0.35%.Murphy took over the fund right before the...

- Marked slowdown in hiring in last quarter- Net profits to 'slightly' miss estimates- Hays and Michael Page report tomorrowProfessional recruitment firm Robert Walters (RWA) revealed a sharp slowdown in net fee income growth in the final quarter of last year as it faced 'difficult market conditions' across its business.The shares fell 6.5% to 505p, pulling down with them shares in rivals Hays...

- Hiring showed signs of slowing in September- UK market flagged as 'more challenging'- Firms still returning large amounts of surplus cashTrading updates from three of the UK's major listed staffing firms this week all pointed towards a slight slowing in demand for new hires, particularly in the permanent job market.While all three companies posted strong net fee income growth, most of the...

London's FTSE 100 traded 0.66% higher at 7,540.92 points by lunchtime on Wednesday amid the release of a slew of positive local earnings updates, including guidance upgrades from retailers Sainsbury's (SBRY), JD Sports Fashion (JD.) and Dunelm (DNLM), and as investors awaited the release of key US inflation data due later in the day.The global mood already had been lifted by testimony from...

Recruiter PageGroup (PAGE) was up 3.6% to 676.5p as the company lifted its annual profit guidance after a positive fourth quarter.The recruitment sector has seen strong demand for its services amid staffing shortages coming out of the pandemic. PageGroup is largely focused on white collar office workers.Operating profit for the year through December was now expected to be in the region of...

UK stocks opened higher on Tuesday as concerns about the omicron variant abated, China eased monetary policy and several blue chip companies announced earnings upgrades, with the benchmark FTSE 100 index bid up 1.1% to 7,312.73 points early on.Indications that the new Covid strain may only trigger mild symptoms prompted relief among investors and helped travel stocks take off.Risk appetite was...

Shares in recruitment firm Page Group (PAGE) surged 7% higher on Wednesday to a new all-time high of 656.5p after reporting strong third quarter growth and increasing full-year profit guidance for the second time in three months.Group gross profit increased 65.4% year-on-year for the three months through September to £228.1 million, which also eclipsed record 2019 levels by around 13%.Growth...