London stocks were mixed on Friday, on the back of geopolitical uncertainty as world leaders come together at the Munich Security Conference.US Vice President JD Vance said Friday the US was prepared to put pressure on Russia to end the war in Ukraine, ahead of a meeting in Munich with President Volodymyr Zelensky. Zelensky meanwhile said that once Kyiv reached a common position with the US and Eu

London's blue chip index was in the red around midday on Friday, as investors await US retail sales and industrial production data.The FTSE 100 index traded down 17.80 points, 0.2%, at 8,747.10. The FTSE 250 was up 65.80 points, 0.3%, at 20,981.66, and the AIM All-Share climbed 2.18 points, 0.3%, at 725.38.The Cboe UK 100 was flat at 877.76, the Cboe UK 250 firmed 0.3% to 18,337.27 and the Cboe Sm

Video games retailer struggling to adapt to fast changing marketFinancial performance has suffered badlyGameStop could join likes of Tesla and Block with crypto investmentsThe old MicroStrategy, now called simply Strategy (MSTR:NASDAQ) following a splashy rebrand on 5 February, has enjoyed such success over the past year that its cryptocurrency playbook was bound to gather mimics.GameStop (GME:NYS

Fourth-quarter sales rise 17.6%Group continues to outperform peersShares test new all-time highsHaving risen more than 300% over the past five years, Hermes' (RMS:EPA) shares were marked up another 3.5% to an all-time high of €2,912 in Paris after the high-end handbag-maker defied the depressed luxury goods market by delivering forecast-beating fourth-quarter sales.Revenue rose across the boa

Investors seem remarkably relaxed ? possibly even complacent ? given the slew of bad economic news being thrown at the US market at present.Both wholesale and retail prices are rising faster than forecast, mainly due to higher food and energy costs, with underlying inflation in consumer goods and services rising at the fastest rate in more than a year.Although Fed chair Jerome Powell told the Sena

Stock prices in London and Frankfurt opened in the red on Friday, as investors prepare for eurozone economic data and digest another tariff plan from the US president.In London, NatWest faced some selling pressure despite better-than-expected results. Hermes boosted Paris, keeping the CAC 40 in the green.The FTSE 100 index fell 30.67 points, 0.4%, at 8,734.05. The FTSE 250 added just 2.35 points a

London's FTSE 100 traded lower around midday on Thursday, as poorly received earnings weighed, missing out on a Ukraine peace hope-led rally elsewhere in Europe.The FTSE 100 index traded down 58.01 points, 0.7%, at 8,749.43. The FTSE 250 was down 16.97 points, 0.1%, at 20,863.53, and the AIM All-Share fell 0.71 of a point, 0.1%, at 722.68.The Cboe UK 100 fell 0.6% at 876.73, the Cboe UK 250 lost 0

Full year profit up 10%Dividend hiked by 7%Buyback raised to £1.5 billionShares in business information and data analytics company Relx (REL) climbed 2% to a new all-time high of £42 after reporting 10% growth in adjusted full-year operating profit and projecting another strong year in 2025.The shares are up 27% over the last 12 months, comfortably ahead of the 16% gain in the blue-chip FTSE 100

Shares fall 8% to £31 in early morning trading£900 million share buyback planned in 2025Full year revenue down 5.2% but in line with expectationsShares in British American Tobacco (BATS) took a turn for the worse in early morning trading as the FTSE 100 tobacco giant reported a 5.2% fall in revenue to £25.8 billion for the year ending 31 December.The stock fell 8% to £31, although it is still

London's FTSE 100 was lower early Thursday, hurt by the likes of BAT, Barclays, Unilever and oil majors, but European peers confidently moved higher on hopes of a Russia-Ukraine peace deal.Barclays fell despite reporting improved earnings. Unilever announced listing plans for its ice cream unit, meanwhile.The FTSE 100 index traded down 45.80 points, 0.5%, at 8,761.64. The FTSE 250 was up 42.78 poi

Consolidation across the investment trust sector continues, against a backdrop of wide NAV (net asset value) discounts, pressure on sub-scale funds and shareholder activism.2024 proved a record year for mergers and acquisitions (M&A) across the sector, with 11 mergers and eight trusts being acquired, and this trend has continued into 2025.On 7 February, JPMorgan Global Growth & Income (JGGI) and s

BlackRock Frontiers Investment Trust (BRFI) 158.5pMarket cap: £300 millionInvesting in frontier markets might seem too risky for some, yet the world's youngest economies present exciting growth opportunities for adventurous portfolio builders. When high quality, lowly valued companies with their own growth drivers and significant re-rating scope are held in a portfolio diversified by stock, geogr

You often hear the word 'defensive' applied to certain stocks and sectors, but what does it mean and can buying 'defensive' stocks really help your performance as an investor?In a word, yes, because they dial down some of the risk which is inherent in markets because they tend not to be very volatile unlike most 'cyclical' or 'growth' stocks, but it's how you use them which matters.Defensive stock

I have been interested to read recent commentary on the proposals to extend IHT (inheritance tax) to pensions. One point caught my attention which was the reference to a 90% effective tax rate. I'm pretty certain my estate would fall in that category, but could you explain the 90% calculation, please?My situation is I have no direct descendants, only a nephew, niece and great-nephew and I am singl

Shares in Filtronic (FTC:AIM) have been on a roll over the past year as the communications kit designer has benefited from successive contract wins from SpaceX, Elon Musk's rocket and spacecraft maker.On 10 February, the company signed a new £16.8 million contract to be fulfilled between now and the end of 2026.Katherine Thompson, director at Edison, said: 'The close working relationship with Spa

Professional short sellers are currently circling a small group of UK consuming-facing stocks with the goal of profiting from falls in their share prices, potentially caused by Rachel Reeves' Budget decisions.The UK outlook is getting worse by the day, with business and consumer sentiment weakening amid concerns the new government doesn't have an effective plan to accelerate economic growth.The ou

In the fourth and final part of our series on small caps we look at smaller company funds with global horizons.These can be a good way of investing in small caps in markets where buying individual stocks might be a challenge, either because you are restricted from investing or because it is difficult to get sufficient information to make an informed decision.Some of these funds focus on smaller fi

Imagine going for a night out in a busy pub, and when the time comes to use the loo, you leave your phone and wallet on the table unguarded. You wouldn't. Yet your online data is, in theory, just as exposed.Don't panic, fortunately, most of your information is secured by the clever digital locks and latches of cybersecurity, be that your personal banking details, your Facebook identity, or your Am

Japanese prime minister Shigeru Ishiba could have been forgiven for a degree of trepidation before his recent visit to the White House. Tariffs would have a major impact on Japan given how reliant its economy is on exports.Therefore, beyond a mild warning from president Donald Trump that Japan could face the T word if it didn't get its trade deficit with America down to zero, Ishiba will have left

The resilience of the US labour market looks likely to keep Federal Reserve rate cuts on hold for the foreseeable future.Although non-farm payrolls for January showed the economy added 143,000 jobs, below the median estimate of 170,000, figures for the prior two months were revised up by 100,000 taking the three-month average increase to 204,000 in the fourth quarter from 170,000 previously.The un