Jet2 founder Meeson sells five million sharesMajor Costain shareholder sells upWeir director snaps up £60,277 sharesPhilip Meeson, founder and largest shareholder of airline and package holidays provider Jet2 (JET2:AIM) has sold five million shares to a limited number of institutional investors on 11 September, representing approximately 2.3% of the issued ordinary share capital in the...

Stocks in London climbed on Wednesday afternoon, buoyed by softer US employment data which strengthened the case for the Federal Reserve to move interest rates lower soon enough.Investors are increasingly pricing in a similarly dovish outlook for the European Central Bank, hurting the pound but lifting stocks in mainland Europe.?The rate cut narrative continues to gather pace, leading to a...

Over the last 15 years the electronics and electronic equipment space, home to some of the UK market's highest-quality engineering and capital goods firms, is the best performing sector in the FTSE 350 with an 11.7% compound annual return.The industrial engineering sector is not too far behind with its own annualised return of 9.7%. For comparison, the FTSE All-Share's annualised return over...

Firmly out of favour with investors since the Brexit vote seven years ago, the FTSE 250 index rallied strongly on the release of the latest UK inflation data (19 July). This showed UK CPI rising by 7.9% year-on-year in June, lower than forecasts of an 8.2% rise, theoretically reducing expectations for the scale of future interest rate hikes from the Bank of England.Yet even after a big one-day...

It has been a mixed start to 2023 for the mining industry, one of the few remaining sectors where the London stock market still has many of the world's biggest names.A reopening of the Chinese economy helped drive a rally in miners of industrial metals in the first weeks of the new year before concerns about recession began to weigh more heavily. On the flipside the precious metals space has...

Weak sentiment towards UK small and medium-sized companies has seen investment trusts focused on this space languish at big discounts and driven consolidation as products with dwindling assets are combined.Stifel believes the 15% discount to net asset value at Mercantile Investment Trust (MRC) means the shares are 'worth a look for those wanting exposure to the UK mid and small cap space' as...

There have been some notable dividend increases in recent weeks from well-known companies on the stock market including a 31% hike from advertising group WPP (WPP) while banking giant HSBC (HSBA) raised its ordinary dividend by 28% on top of comments that it might pay a special dividend once the sale of its Canadian business has completed.Even more impressively, mining services company Weir...

- Record order book- 38% increase in the dividend- CEO flags 'compelling' opportunityA strong set of results, encouraging outlook and a near-40% increase in the dividend helped put a smile on the face of Weir (WEIR) shareholders on Wednesday morning.Shares in the mining services firm were up 6.3% to £20.19, extending year-to-date gains to more than 20%, as it posted 2022 revenue of £2.47...

One of the most compelling attributes of exchange-traded funds, also known as ETFs, is they allow investors to create a diversified investment portfolio from scratch rapidly, easily and inexpensively.If you bought a product tracking the MSCI World index you could arguably do this at the click of a single button - and by doing so you would gain exposure to more than 1,500 stocks. But that index...

- Three new faces in the FTSE 100- Five stocks join the FTSE 250- Changes take effect from 19 DecemberIndex compiler FTSE Russell, owned by London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG), has just released the results of its December quarterly review.Three stocks are being promoted to the FTSE 100 large-cap index, meaning three stocks are leaving to join the FTSE 250 mid-cap universe, as Shares...

Mid-cap companies have always attracted investors. Seen as large enough to compete on a global scale, but not so big that their capacity for growth is capped, like many FTSE 100 stocks, an increasing number of investors spend time researching stocks on the FTSE 250 index, or simply buy the index through the handful of inexpensive targeted ETF tracker funds that are available.While many...

UK shares ended the first week of the quarter much as they started it, with the conversation dominated by rising energy prices.Brent crude finished above $83 per barrel for a gain of nearly $4 or 5% on the week, marking a three-year high.In the event the much-awaited US September non-farm payroll data was a damp squib, sending markets in Europe and the US lower.By the close the FTSE 100 index...

UK shares eased back after a firm opening on Friday as investors awaited US monthly non-farm payrolls data, with expectations that the economy added 0.5 million jobs in September.Brent Crude prices gained to $82.50 per barrel while it was reported that US diesel stockpiles were at 20-year lows heading into the winter.At midday the FTSE 100 index of leading shares was flat at 7,078 despite...

UK shares opened slightly firmer on Friday led by gains in oil companies, with both Royal Dutch Shell (RDSB) and BP (BP.) gaining close to 2%.Brent Crude prices gained another 1.2% to $82.75 per barrel while it was reported that US diesel stockpiles were at 20-year lows heading into the winter.Trading in Asia was positive with gains seen in China and Japan overnight, but the focus today will...

UK stocks made modest gains into the early afternoon session with the FTSE 100 index of leading shares registering a 0.2% gain at midday to 7,178 points.The midcap FTSE 250 index saw similar gains of 0.2% to 24,264 points.Markets are eagerly awaiting the August US non-farm payrolls data due to be released at 1.30pm London time. The rate of job creation is seen as a key input into the central...

UK stocks opened slightly weaker on Friday as investors nervously awaited the latest US monthly job numbers this afternoon, a key barometer of the strength of the economic recovery.The consensus expectation is for around 728,000 jobs to have been created in August.Overnight, there was a surprise resignation by Japanese prime minister Yoshihide Suga, whose support has slumped over his handling...

The FTSE 100 enjoyed a third consecutive day of solid gains on Wednesday, gaining 0.34% by the close to 7,150.12.The more domestic focused FTSE 250 ended within sight of the record levels attained earlier in the day while the S&P 500 was up 0.2% to 4,493.81 by 4.30pm UK time.MAJOR STOCKS ON THE MOVEEngineer Weir (WEIR) gained 3.1% to £16.97, while 'in play' supermarket chain Sainsbury's...

London's FTSE 100 traded 0.15% higher at 7,136.57 points by noon on a quiet day for local corporate and economic news, as investors brace for an update from the US Federal Reserve at this week's Jackson Hole get-together.The FTSE 250 rose 0.7% to an all-time high of 24,043.49.MAJOR STOCKS ON THE MOVEBritish Airways-owner International Consolidated Airlines (IAG) gained 2.3% to trade at 168.5p...

Being in the teeth of summer holidays season was has always led to low volume and limited corporate news and the UK's major stocks seem to be set adrift in early trading on Wednesday with no real concerted direction. That investors may be keeping their powder dry ahead of the latest Federal Reserve pronouncements at this week's Jackson Hole get-together only added to the subdued mood.At...

Shares in the Edinburgh Investment Trust (EDIN) ticked up 0.7% to 636p after it beat its FTSE All-Share benchmark and declared a special dividend.For the financial year ended 31 March 2021, the trust's net asset value on a total return basis was 34.8%, while in share price terms it returned 46.4% during the period compared with a total return of 26.7% for the FTSE All-Share.The trust's board...