Stocks in London ended the week higher on Friday, while unambiguously dovish remarks from US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell propelled the pound to a 29-month high against the dollar.'The time has come for policy to adjust. The direction of travel is clear, and the timing and pace of rate cuts will depend on incoming data, the evolving outlook, and the balance of risks,' Powell said in a speec

Wall Street anticipates another strong quarter for Nvidia (NVDA:NASDAQ) as investors' favourite chip stock prepares to release fiscal second-quarter 2025 results (28 Aug), so the pressure is on.There's been no sign that demand for the firm's high-end graphics processing units is waning, the benchmark for running generative AI workloads, but good hasn't been good enough for Nvidia for months: only

Gaming Realms(GMR:AIM) 39.93pGain to date: 26.4%We flagged AIM-listed games distributor Gaming Realms (GMR:AIM) as an underappreciated growth story on 25 April with the company projected to more than double pre-tax profit over the next three years. Pleasingly, the market appears to be recognising that potential.WHAT HAS HAPPENED SINCE WE SAID TO BUY?The company delivered a robust first-half tra

Stocks closed in the green in Europe on Thursday, as London's FTSE 100 extended its gains, while the UK economy had a 'remarkable rebound' in the second quarter.The FTSE 100 index closed up 66.30 points, 0.8%, at 8,347.35. The FTSE 250 ended up 141.87 points, 0.7%, at 21,094.16, and the AIM All-Share closed up 3.28 points, 0.4%, at 774.79.The Cboe UK 100 ended up 0.8% at 833.68, the Cboe UK 250 cl

Stocks in London put in a subdued performance during midday trade on Thursday, as the market digested UK economic growth data.The FTSE 100 index was up 3.42 points at 8,284.22. The FTSE 250 was down 69.37 points, or 0.3%, at 20,882.92, and the AIM All-Share was down 1.12 points, or 0.2%, at 770.39.The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.1% at 828.00, the Cboe UK 250 was down 0.2% at 18,299.22, and the Cboe Small

On the 5 August, the Japanese benchmark index Nikkei 225 plummeted 12.4% in its worst one-day performance since 1987, while other Asian markets such as Taiwan fell heavily.There were several factors at play which caused the massive sell-off, not only in Asian markets but globally. How have managers of Japanese funds reacted to the turmoil?Unsurprisingly, given they are effectively talking up their

New £185 million contract win9% rise in half-year dividend to 3.8p per shareSelected by Rolls Royce as a construction partnerShares in Balfour Beatty (BBY) fell more than 3% to 394p in morning trading as the infrastructure group reported a widely expected rise in revenue for the first half of the year.However this news failed to excite investors who took the opportunity to cash in on a recent 52-

15% organic growth in Q2Full year guidance raised againUS slowdown spooks investorsDanish jewellery giant Pandora (PNDORA:CPH) raised its full-year 2024 revenue guidance yet again after delivering a 15% rise in organic sales to DKK 6.77 billion for the second quarter.The group's 'Phoenix' growth strategy, which entails 'elevating brand desirability' and a step-up in marketing and investments in ne

First half losses reducedOnline revenues return to growthInterim dividend hiked by 5%Among the FTSE 100's worst performers this year, shares in sports betting and gaming giant Entain (ENT) rallied 8% to 564.2p after the Ladbrokes, Coral and Sportingbet owner upgraded guidance for the year to December 2024.This followed a better-than-expected first half from the company, whose second quarter perfor

On 23 July, India announced its first budget under a new coalition government led by Narendra Modi, who became prime minister for the third time albeit with a reduced majority of 293 MPs for his BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party).In the Indian general election held between 19 April to 1 June, 642 million people voted out of a total population of 1.4 billion.WHAT WERE THE KEY POINTS?India's finance minis

Stock prices in London were higher at midday Tuesday, amid good news for the UK's construction sector, as investors await the performance of stocks in New York.Markets across the globe took a hit on Monday, with investors digesting last week's economic data from the US.The FTSE 100 index was up 9.13 points, 0.1%, at 8,017.36. The FTSE 250 was up 84.80 points, 0.4%, at 20,321.54, and the AIM All-Sh

TSMC stock has fallen 23% since mid-July$88 billion wiped off market cap in five volatile daysDelays temporary, demand remains 'strong'In five volatile days, the world's biggest contract chip manufacturer has seen roughly $88 billion wiped off its market cap. The New York-listed stock of TSMC (TSM:NYSE) has fallen from about $166 on the last day of July, to barely $147 today, based on pre-market d

European stocks traded lower at midday on Friday as weak US data sparked concerns that growth in the world's largest economy could be slowing.The FTSE 100 index was down 34.90 points, 0.4%, at 8,248.46. The FTSE 250 was 358.17 points, 1.7%, at 21,101.06, and the AIM All-Share was down 5.27 points, 0.7%, at 777.81.The Cboe UK 100 was down 0.4%, the Cboe UK 250 was down 1.2% at 18,461.00, and the Cb

Once again, we find ourselves riffing on the Dinah Washington jazz classic, 'What a difference a day makes'. Barely 24 hours earlier US markets were all sporting weekly gains, but another bad session for 'Big Tech' stocks pushed the Dow and the Nasdaq into negative territory and sent the Russell small-cap index sharply lower.Investors had hoped that latest earnings from Apple (AAPL:NASDAQ) and Ama

Investors looking to put money to work with a company for the long term often employ fundamental analysis, which involves scrutinising financial metrics and analysing financial statements to help them understand how fundamentally strong a company is. While profit margins are a solid indicator of a good or bad business, the margin doesn't tell you anything about how much money a company actually sp

CrowdStrike (CRWD;NASDAQ) $258.81Market cap: $63 billionIt's been a rough couple of weeks for CrowdStrike (CRWD:NASDAQ) after what some have called the world's biggest IT outage caused banks, hospitals, and airports to 'go dark'. The question for investors now is that following the more than 30% share price crash, is the stock worth buying?Shares believes the answer is Yes, but investors who do so

Software giant remains favoured pick of many in cloud and AIOverall revenue +15%, Azure cloud +29%Investors and analysts may have got a bit ahead of themselvesThere's lots of talk across the internet about Microsoft's (MSFT:NASDAQ) fourth quarter (to end June) cloud and AI (artificial intelligence) revenue falling short of expectations. That might be so, but a look at the underlying numbers paints

Earnings 'beat and raise'Interim dividend up 50%Buyback exceeds estimatesInvestors in London-based, Asia-focused bank Standard Chartered (STAN) were treated to a quadruple helping of good news as half-year earnings beat forecasts, leading the group to raise its full-year guidance, hike the interim dividend by 50% and launch its largest-ever share buyback.The shares climbed 43p or 6% to 770p, takin

On track to deliver full year 2024New artificial tools announcedUnderlying adjusted operating profit up 4% to £250 millionShares in Pearson (PSON) were down over 3% to £10.10 in morning trading despite the education media group remaining on track to deliver full year 2024 and reiterating guidance for 2025.Beyond 2025, Pearson said it was positioned to deliver a compound annualised growth rate in

Stocks in London were in the green going into Friday afternoon, as investors kept their eyes on US inflation data due out this afternoon.The FTSE 100 index traded up 58.40 points, or 0.7%, at 8,244.06. The FTSE 250 was up 221.33 points, 1.1%, at 21,105.17, while the AIM All-Share rose 3.17 points, 0.4%, at 776.20.The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.8% at 823.02, the Cboe UK 250 rose 1.1% to 18,493.38, and th