Three recent interventions by the Trump administration are having a major impact on financial markets.First, plans for a cryptocurrency strategic reserve were announced, helping to light a fire under Bitcoin and other digital assets.Those gains were soon erased however when, against hopes of a last-minute reprieve, 25% tariffs were introduced on Canada and Mexico along with a 10% levy on Chinese g

London's blue chip index underperformed against its peers in Paris and Frankfurt on Thursday morning, hurt by a handful of its large names going ex-dividend, though Centrica and Lloyds Banking Group were on the up in early dealings.The FTSE 100 index fell 31.04 points, 0.4%, at 8,681.49. The FTSE 250 rose 33.24 points, 0.2%, at 20,741.03, and the AIM All-Share rose 3.43 points, 0.5%, at 722.86.The

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

Market is worried that growth is in long-run slowdown$180 billion wiped off market cap$75 billion AI infrastructure capex spooks investorsAfter a 7% stock drop overnight for Google parent Alphabet (GOOG:NASDAQ), headlines across the internet are screaming revenue miss, but that doesn't really capture the detail of the tech giant's fourth quarter.Alphabet reported $96.47 billion Q4 revenue, below t

The fast-changing world of AI (artificial intelligence) has taken another unexpected turn after reports over the weekend that Chinese firm DeepSeek had developed a competitive LLM (Large Language Model) at a fraction of the cost of traditional AI models.DeepSeek's latest R1 model can perform similar levels of reasoning as OpenAi's best available model, scoring as high or higher than ChatGPT-4 and

Strong demand settles 2025 nervesStock completely wipes out DeepSeek losses Chinese hedge-fund backed start-up challenging AI parametersThe solid Q4 figures from ASML (ASML:AMS) will go a long way in helping stabilise chip industry sentiment after the boom in enthusiasm around AI was so savagely dented earlier in the week by the emergence of a low-cost LLM (large language model) from Chinese start

Blue chip indices in Europe were lower on Monday midday, while investor eyes are also stateside, as tech stocks tumble in response to China's DeepSeek AI chatbot gaining popularity.The FTSE 100 index traded down 27.06 points, 0.3%, at 8,475.29. The FTSE 250 was down 127.27 points, 0.6%, at 20,390.78, and the AIM All-Share was down 4.30 points, 0.6%, at 710.75.The Cboe UK 100 was 0.3% lower at 849.

Q3 sales better-than-fearedTurnaround strategy showing promiseFull-year 2025 guidance upgradedBritish luxury fashion house Burberry (BRBY) topped the FTSE 250 on 24 January, its shares rallying 16% to £12.41 after the footwear-to-leather accessories designer delivered a far better-than-feared drop in third quarter sales.This performance stoked optimism that new chief executive Joshua Schulman's '

Netflix added record 19 million subscribers Shares set to surpass $1,000 for the first timeLive sports proving a winnerShares in Netflix (NFLX:NASDAQ) soared more than 14% to $997 in after hours trading on 21 January after the global streaming giant revealed it added a record 19 million new subscribers in the fourth quarter.That meant the company finished 2024 with 302 million subscribers, up 15%

UK indices remained in the red at midday on Thursday but with water companies bucking the trend following UK regulator Ofwat green lighting a substantial industry investment package.Interest rate calls on either side of the Atlantic dominated events with the Bank of England leaving rates unchanged, after a 'hawkish' cut by the US Federal Reserve on Wednesday.The BoE's Monetary Policy Committee vot

After what has been a poor year for UK listings, the London Stock Exchange could afford to celebrate this week with the float of French media group Canal+ (CAN) which debuted with a market value of around £2.5 billion.Although the shares were listed in London, and at that value would normally be eligible for inclusion in the FTSE 250 mid-cap index, they are excluded as the company is still French

Blue-chips in London, Paris and Frankfurt were in the red midday Tuesday, as investors fretted over the outlook for China's economy after some less-than-stellar data.'Chinese exports grew at a slower pace in November versus October, and imports shrank. That doesn't install much confidence about Beijing's efforts to get the country back on top. The prospect of higher tariffs on Chinese goods export

Stock prices in Europe opened in the red on Tuesday as the FTSE 100 faded amid a softer start for miners.Mining firms climbed on Monday amid hopes of a China economic bounce back next year, but returned some progress on Tuesday. Anglo American was 2.2% lower, Glencore fell 2.1% and Antofagasta lost 2.0%.The FTSE 100 index traded down 38.21 points, 0.5%, at 8,313.87. The FTSE 250 was up 87.63 point

Spare a thought for Laszlo Hanyecz. You may not have heard of him, but in 2010 he spent 10,000 Bitcoins on two pizzas, in one of the first ever 'real world' crypto transactions. The market value of those Bitcoins is now $950 million. Hanyecz is pretty stoic about it, but deep down he must know that no amount of melted cheese can make up for the vast fortune he might have had. Hanyecz, a computer p

JD Wetherspoon (JDW) 602pMarket cap: £732 millionThe market has a well-understood tendency to overshoot and undershoot, and in the case of pub group JD Wetherspoon (JDW) we think it has pushed the shares much too low given the qualities of the business and the risks it faces.Considering the company raised its earnings guidance last month and reinstated the dividend thanks to 'robust' like-for-lik

There was a certain degree of investor bemusement last month when shares in US electricity generation company Constellation Energy (CEG:NASDAQ) soared on news technology giant Microsoft (MSFT:NASDAQ) had signed a 20-year power purchase agreement.This was no ordinary deal, however, as it paves the way for the restart of Three Mile Island 1 ? not the reactor which famously melted down in 1979, but a

For once, Investors' focus over the next couple of weeks has nothing to do with interest rates or macro events but politics.In the UK, by the time Shares goes to press we will have been treated to the first Labour Budget in 14 years.Chancellor Rachel Reeves has said in order to fill the 'black hole' left by the previous government the Treasury needs to raise around £22 billion, but to get the eco

Pivotal sees stock hitting $260 in 2025Datacentres, cloud services and AI major driversTruist recently upped its own target price to $265Analysts at Pivotal Research have started coverage of Amazon (AMZN:NASDAQ) and see up to 40% upside from the stock thanks to the tech giant's strong organic growth potential and its robust multi-sector market position.In a note to clients, the Canadian research h

London's blue chips faded after a bright start to trade in the red at midday on Thursday, ahead of US inflation data later in the session.The FTSE 100 had made a positive start, before some pre-US data nerves kicked in.The more tepid trade in Europe came despite equities in China ending the day in the green on supportive measures from the nation's central bank. The Shanghai Composite rose 1.3%, of

The FTSE 100 opened higher on Thursday, supported by strong gains in GSK, while European peers falteredThe FTSE 100 index traded up 25.77 points, 0.3%, at 8,269.51. The FTSE 250 slipped 12.69 points, 0.1%, at 20,809.69, and the AIM All-Share down just 0.19 of a point at 736.47.The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.3% at 828.03, the Cboe UK 250 flat at 18,285.44, and the Cboe Small Companies was unmoved at 16,6