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 Februar

Investment trusts have experienced challenges this year, with discounts remaining wide across various sectors and some consolidation occurring. However, certain trusts have performed well compared to both the wider market and their peer group. This article highlights the top performers across four of the Association of Investment Companies' most widely followed equity-facing sectors.GLOBALAn inves

If we took a straw poll of readers and asked which country has the world's biggest sovereign wealth fund, the chances are Saudi Arabia and Singapore would come high up the list if not at the top.In fact, the largest is Norway's Government Pension Fund Global which has a value of more than $1.6 trillion.When the country discovered large offshore oil fields at the end of the 1960s, the government de

JPMorgan UK Small Cap Growth & Income(JUGI) 293.5pMarket cap: £403.4 millionA major trend in the investment trust sector is mergers between sub-scale trusts with similar remits to create funds large enough and sufficiently liquid to attract wealth managers and retail investors.One example which Shares believes offers a compelling proposition is JPMorgan UK Small Cap Growth & Income (JUGI), which

Office market has upside potentialPrime rents set to keep risingHelical and Shaftesbury rated BuyThe London REIT (real estate investment trust) sector may be ?under attack?, according to analysts at Berenberg, but there are reasons to be cheerful.While the companies ?may have issues?, London property still has a place in the market, but in a different format, meaning firms will need to innovate if

Melrose director offloads nearly £280,000 sharesShaftesbury Capital director snaps up 50,000 sharesVianet director splashes out after HSBC fundingDavid Lis, non-executive director at Melrose Industries (MRO) sold 30,000 shares at 541p for the total value of £162,400 on 16 November.The sale comes a day after Lis sold 21,400 shares at 542p for the total value of £115,914 on 15 November.The dispos

There was a telling piece of information in the latest trading update from UK property investor British Land (BLND). Faced with a situation where Facebook-owner Meta Platforms (META:NASDAQ) had decided break its lease on 1 Triton Square on British Land's Regent's Place 'campus' (at a cost to the social media giant of £149 million), the latter felt confident enough to reject Meta's offer of an occ

This week marks the start of a new chapter for the UK property sector with the completed merger of London's West End landlord Shaftesbury and rival Capco.Shaftesbury, which first listed in 1987, was formed by the Levy family as a vehicle to invest in areas such as Carnaby Street, Chinatown and Seven Dials, and brings to the marriage two million square feet of lettable space including over 600 cafe

Shares in global banking giant HSBC (HSBA) fell 3.5% to 483p following the announcement of first quarter results that were ahead of expectations at the earnings level but disappointed the market from a capital perspective with no further share buybacks shceduled this year.Reported profit before tax was down 28% year-on-year to $4.17 billion but was well ahead of the consensus estimate of $3.72 bil

THIS IS AN ADVERTISING PROMOTIONBy Adithep Vanabriksha, Senior Investment Manager, Aberdeen New Thai Investment Trust PLCAsia, without the jittersAsian markets have been volatile as fears over a trade war and economic weakness mountThailand's position as a regional hub has made it less vulnerableUpcoming elections are providing positive news flowAsian markets have a bad case of the jitters. Invest

In one of his celebrated Low life columns, racing journalist Jeffrey Bernard quipped that in the space of one ten-minute sojourn in a Berkshire pub he had been offered a fight, a large unsolicited loan, a whole poached salmon, marriage and ten tips for a ten-horse race taking place that afternoon. As one year rolls over in the next, it is easy for investors to feel equally bewildered as they are c