Aurora Investment Trust (ARR) 243pMarket cap: £185.3 millionInvestors seeking a value-oriented fund focused on avoiding permanent capital losses first and foremost, while offering exposure to the improving consumer outlook among other themes, should buy Aurora Investment Trust (ARR). Managed by long-term value investment firm Phoenix, the dividend-paying trust?s 10.2% discount to NAV (net asset v

- Fund offers to buy 20% stake at 40% premium- Shares jump 22% on above-average volume- Austrian entrepreneur owns key stakeInvestors in FTSE 250 specialty mining materials firm RHI Magnesita (RHIM) must have thought Christmas had come early when they saw their shares open 20% higher this morning after trading at six-month lows last Friday. The shares were trading up 462p or 22.5% to £25.2

Leading UK shares closed convincingly higher with big cap miners doing well as US data pointed to an economic rebound across the pond. The benchmark FTSE 100 finished ahead by over 116 points, or 1.68%, at 7,039.30, while mid-caps also ended the day up, the FTSE 250 adding 0.25% at 22,385.90.The IHS Markit report in the US came in better than expected in April, with the services purchasing manager

Leading UK shares were clinging above the 7,000 level as commodity stocks provided support and Tuesday's comments about interest rate hikes from US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen faded into the background.At midday, the FTSE 100 was 1.15% ahead at 7,002.96, led by mining group Anglo American's (AAL) 3.6% gain at £31.88, with BHP (BHP), Glencore (GLEN) and Rio Tinto (RIO) also ahead. Other cyclic

London's FTSE 100 opened higher on Wednesday with mining companies boosted by rising commodity prices buoyed by global recovery hopes.At 08.35 am, the blue chip benchmark was up 0.8% at 6,981.24 points, having lost ground on Tuesday due to a sell-off in US tech stocks.Miners led the charge early on, with BHP (BHP), Glencore (GLEN) and Rio Tinto (RIO) up 2.4%, 2.2% and 2.2%, respectively. Other cyc

London's FTSE 100 finished Monday's session 1.3% to the good at 6,719.13 points thanks to improving investor sentiment in the US, where worries over the US stimulus programme, inflation and resulting volatility in the bond market appeared to be easing.PEARSON HOLDS DIVIDEND STEADY DESPITE EARNINGS DROPEducational publisher Pearson (PSON) rose 6.4% to 808.8p as it posted a rise in annual profit aft

London's FTSE 100, well known for being full of banks, miners and oil companies, traded 0.2% higher at 6,644.30 by Monday lunchtime amid volatility in the oil price after attacks on Saudi Arabian facilities over the weekend and continuing nervousness about inflation.The blue chip benchmark had risen at the open after Brent crude oil jumped to over $70 per barrel for the first time in 14 months fol

The UK's leading FTSE 100 index, well known for being full of banks, miners and oil companies, made a strong start on Monday after being buoyed by a rising oil price.The index rose 0.62% to 6,672 shortly after the market opened, which came after Brent crude oil jumped to over $70 per barrel for the first time in 14 months following a drone attack on a key oil site in Saudi Arabia, the world's top

Industrial furnace equipment manufacturer RHI Magnesita (RHIM) is facing an increasingly challenging trading environment as reduced global industrial production puts equipment orders on hold.Customer production in the steel division has fallen in response to the economic slowdown caused by the pandemic, and the company believes worse is to come.RHI Magnesita produces heat resistance materials for

London's FTSE 100 opened up 1.6% to 5,842 points following a strong finish on Wall Street led by big technology names as well as optimistic statements from the governors of New York and California regarding the reopening of businesses.In Asia, China, Japan and South Korea were closed for public holidays while thin trading led to gains in Australia with the ASX 200 up 1.4%.Oil prices extended gains

Banking covenants across the hard hit engineering and industrials sectors are unlikely to be breached, according to analysis by investment bank Berenberg, even for the most levered businesses.'We believe these companies are very well placed,' it says, referring to the likes of FTSE 100 firm Halma (HLMA), plus FTSE 250 members Electrocomponents (ECM), Spectris (SXS) and Vesuvius (VSVS).Berenberg be

The basic principle of value investing is buying stocks on low valuations and waiting for them to re-rate. Warren Buffett calls it buying a dollar of earnings for 50 cents, or in the case of UK stocks buying £1 of assets for 50p. In theory this makes a lot of sense; in practice, it's far from simple and in today's market not a lot of stocks sell for 50p on the pound.Value investing has been out o

London's FTSE 100 firmed 44 points to 7,305 on Thursday as strong US earnings overnight helped to boost markets across Europe and the blue chip benchmark drew support from index heavyweight AstraZeneca's (AZN) strong third quarter update.Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) cheapened 3.1% to 226.5p as third quarter results came up short of expectations and the banking group slipped back into a statutory l

The FTSE 100 starts a smidge higher on Wednesday at 7,203.64 with gains in the mining sector offset by weak utilities. Sterling is fairly steady ahead of a series of votes by MPs later to try and find a consensus on Brexit.Ailing department store Debenhams (DEB) jumps 52% after Mike Ashley's Sports Direct (SPD) proposes a takeover bid worth £61.4m. Sports Direct rose 0.4%. The deal would be condi

Pharmaceuticals giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) suffered a big fall in its share price on 3 December after announcing the $5.1bn acquisition of US cancer drug maker Tesaro.Glaxo offered a premium of 62% to Tesaro's previous closing price; shares in the latter have been weak amid doubts over the prospects for its flagship ovarian cancer drug Zejula.The FTSE 100 constituent does not expect any contribut

It is becoming increasingly apparent there are high stakes for UK engineering and industrial companies if Brexit talks fail to smooth trade routes between the UK and the EU.Businesses including FTSE 250 constituents IMI (IMI), Bodycote (BOY), Spirax-Sarco (SPX) and Vesuvius (VSVS) generate more than a third of their annual revenues from doing business across the Continent, and analysts calculate

Among the high growth stocks which have sold off in the recent roiling of equity markets are online fashion phenomenon ASOS (ASC:AIM), online grocer-turned-platform, Ocado (OCDO), video games services provider Keywords Studios (KWS:AIM), attractions software supplier Accesso Technologies (ACSO:AIM) and mixers marvel Fevertree Drinks (FEVR:AIM).Other high-flying stocks such as Games Workshop (GAW)

The FTSE 100 is up 0.86% to 7,583 points following strong market performances in Wall Street and Asia. There is some trepidation over President Donald Trump's decision to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal although so far these have not translated into market ructions.UK challenger ban Virgin Money (VM.) gains 9.8% to 343p as it confirms it has received an offer of acquisition by peer CYBG (CYBG).

A producer of bricks to line steel and glass furnaces so they withstand extreme thermal, mechanical and chemical stress is set to join the London Stock Exchange on 27 October. We believe RHI Magnesita (RHIM) is primed to qualify for the FTSE 250 index in the near future.Austrian group RHI generated €1.6bn revenue in 2016. Its merger with Brazilian group Magnesita finally completed this month