Stock prices in London opened mostly lower on Friday morning as China posted its slowest growth in a year and a half, while UK retail sales performed better than expected last month.The FTSE 100 index opened down 28.63 points, or 0.3%, at 8,356.50. The FTSE 250 was down 37.28 points, or 0.2%, at 21,063.64, and the AIM All-Share was up 1.39 points, or 0.2%, at 743.78.London's FTSE 100 had hit a fiv

With the S&P 500 index having made more than 20 new highs this year, questions are being asked over the sustainability of the rally and the earnings growth which appears to be driving it.Given the market gains have been led by technology ? by way of which, Shares noticed the market cap of Microsoft (MSFT:NASDAQ) now eclipses that of the entire UK stock market ? comparisons with the bubble of 2000

Revenue lifted by data and analyticsIPO pipeline ?promising? says CEOShares drift to three-month lowGlobal financial and information firm London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) failed to set investors? pulses racing with its preliminary full-year results which showed revenues rising but profits falling.The shares slid 224p or 2.5% to £86.88, their lowest level of the year so far. DISAPPOINTING

Divestment wipes out debt in fullMarlowe to return over £150 million to shareholdersCEO Alex Dacre to departShares in Marlowe (MRL:AIM) rocketed 35% higher to 569p on news the business-critical services and software firm has agreed to sell certain GRC (governance, risk and compliance) software and services assets to private equity firm Inflexion for an enterprise value of £430 million.The announ

Second-quarter sales and earnings beatFull-year sales and profit guidance raisedIncreased confidence in long-term profit targetsPharmaceutical company GSK (GSK) beat second-quarter expectations with revenue excluding Covid-19 solutions and adjusted operating profit both up 11% to $7.1 billion and $2.2 billion respectively.After exceeding prior full year guidance at the halfway point, and with the

Interest rate worries kept European markets in the red on Friday, while news of the UK averting a recession failed to boost stocks in London.A worrying outlook for the UK economy clouds over investor sentiment. A tiny revision to the fourth quarter could result in the UK being in a technical recession.Elsewhere, eyes were on the US bond market, as the inversion of the treasury yield curve - once s

THIS IS AN ADVERTISING FEATURE-2022 was a mixed year for progress on ESG issues with considerable disruption from the Ukraine crisis-High fossil fuel prices and insecurity of supply has galvanised policymakers to support renewables development-Companies are making tangible progress on disclosure and transparency2022 brought both progress and failure for sustainable investors. On the one hand, the

Equities and currencies were hardly changed on Thursday at midday in London, as traders hunkered down ahead of some big data reports and three major central bank decisions next week.The FTSE 100 index was down just 0.75 of a point at 7,488.44. The FTSE 250 was down 35.42 points, 0.2% at 18,895.15, and the AIM All-Share was down 2.40 points, 0.3%, at 832.13.The Cboe UK 100 was down 0.2% at 749.36,

It was in the months following the global financial crisis that Robert started becoming interested in the stock market. In a graduate IT job with Barclays (BARC) based in Canary Wharf, he'd had a front row seat during the teeth of the financial shock, but he has developed his own stocks-only DIY investment style during the decade-plus since.In this article we talk through how he goes about identif

UK equities have had a healthy bounce in the past month with the FTSE 100 index advancing 7.6% and the FTSE 250 rallying 16% since 12 October.The reasons for the sudden about-turn are two-fold - the normalisation of UK government bond yields after they spiked following the political upheaval of the summer and disastrous mini-Budget in September, and generally better-than-expected corporate earning

There have been few hiding places for investors in 2022 and to make matters worse, bonds which have historically provided some protection, have clocked up double-digit percentage losses.This means traditionally conservative 60/40 portfolios, a bedrock of many retirement pots, have suffered losses for the first time since 2008.The Bloomberg 60/40 index is down around 10% year to date while the Vang

This time 12 months ago company outlooks began to warn that inflation would take a bite out of bottom lines, that's proved accurate, and no one expects the profit warnings seen to date will be the end of the story. After a fizzing third quarter last year sent equities soaring by comparison this year looks likely to be the time when the chickens really come home to roost and deal another blow to al

Investors have endured a tortuous nine months characterised by volatility and uncertainty with stock markets plunging on a combination of surging inflation and rising interest rates, fears over the outlook for supply chains and global growth, lockdowns in China and conflict in Ukraine.Year-to-date, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite are down 21% and 29% respectively at the time of writing.While the

The last couple of years have been tough for the motor industry as a whole. While Covid only brought production lines to standstill for a limited period of time the following supply chain snarl-ups created a real headache for just-in-time operators and the dearth of crucial parts like semiconductors sent prices skyrocketing.The more established names were able to use their size to muscle their way

Buy something in-store or online these days and it's a fair bet you'll use a credit or debit card powered by Visa (V:NYSE) or Mastercard (MC:NYSE). The use of digital wallets (PayPal, Google Pay, Apple Pay etc) may be growing rapidly, but Visa and Mastercard remain the giants in the electronic payments pool, dominating transactions globally.Between them, the duopoly processes about 340 billion ann

Unlike in sports nobody blows a whistle when stocks move from a bull market into a bear market. But one conventional definition says it is when a market drops 20% from the previous peak.On 20 May the S&P 500 index briefly registered a 20% drop from its peak in January 2022.The technology focused Nasdaq 100 has been in bear market territory for weeks and is down around 27% from its peak in November

The new 'shopping basket' used to calculate inflation in 2022 shows just how much Covid and successive lockdowns have changed our spending habits.In total, 19 items have been added to the CPIH (Consumer Prices Index including owner-occupiers' housing costs) basket while 15 items have been removed.CHANGING TASTESThe shopping basket put together by the ONS (Office for National Statistics) contains o

Supermarket Income REIT (SUPR) 109.7pGain to date: 4.5%Original entry point: Buy at 105p, 2 April 2020The share price return delivered by Supermarket Income REIT (SUPR) over the last 11 months may not be enough to quicken the pulses but a very steady performance along with a reliable inflation-linked income stream looks attractive after the recent volatility in the bond market.Results for the six

When Moonpig (MOON) listed on the London stock market earlier this month it used a plethora of buzzwords to describe itself. It called itself a 'platform', talked about its 'proprietary technology and apps' and said it leaned heavily on 'data science'.This may seem curious for a business that basically sells an extensive range of greeting cards. As one analyst told Shares, it's a consumer of tech

It feels as though 2020 was the year when ESG investing finally came of age. Expect more of the same in 2021, only more so.Throughout the pandemic, whatever happened to share or bond prices, sustainable investing continued to grow as institutions and individuals allocated more and more funds to the sector.A new cohort of younger, more eco-aware investors has emerged, demanding change, while compan