The FTSE 100 is up 0.8% to 7,526.48 after strong trading in Asia overnight and as negotiations on the UK's exit from the European Union are set to begin. Sterling held steady ahead of the talks.Women's discount fashion shop Bonmarche's (BON) underlying full year pre-tax profit falls 40% to £6.3m. The shares are down a relatively modest 2.1% at 93p shored up by a maintained dividend and...

London markets are little changed in early trade on 'super Thursday' as investors look ahead to a combination of a Bank of England (BoE) rate decision and services PMI data release, which may tell us something about the direction of inflation. The FTSE 100 nudges just 15 points, or 0.2%, higher to 6,860.There's also the latest policy announcement from the Federal Reserve to digest, which...

UK shares tumble in early trade on Friday as concerns grow about German banking group Deutsche Bank (0H7D) and the broader financial sector. Reports on Thursday suggest numerous funds exiting Deutsche Bank, which currently faces a $14bn fine from the US Department of Justice for mis-selling mortgage-backed securities.The knock on effects are felt right across the UK banking, and other sectors,...

London markets open on a marginally positive footing in early trade on Wednesday with investor appetite still bolstered by possible monetary stimulus from the Bank of England in a bid to ward off recession. The FTSE 100 index nudges around 20 points higher to 6,717, with midcaps following suit, the FTSE 250 up a slightly more modest 0.2% at 16,940.In an otherwise relatively quiet corporate...

We have a number of investor evenings in the coming weeks where investors will get to hear from exciting small cap companies and receive a timely explanation of how to trade the referendum on UK membership of the European Union.Tonight (19 May) automotive testing specialist AB Dynamics (ABDP:AIM) is set to present, alongside pharmaceutical firms Evgen Pharma (EVG:AIM) and Silence Therapeutics...

Funding Circle's trust IPOPeer-to-peer (P2P) lender Funding Circle is launching a UK-listed investment trust to invest in business loans. It plans to raise £150 million which will be lent through the Funding Circle platform and targets a dividend yield of 6-7%. Funding Circle has already lent £840 million to UK small and medium sized businesses since launch in 2010. (WC)Hammerson's Dublin...

London shares post hefty loses in early deals on Tuesday thanks to a mixed bag of company news and following southbound sessions on Wall Street and across Asia overnight. Heating and plumbing specialist Wolseley (WOS) was hard hit, followed by pharmas, house builders and financials. European markets are pretty mixed, with France's CAC 40 mildly lower, the German DAX up a fraction and the Euro...

As we write crude oil prices remain highly volatile. Despite a big bounce in the last week prices are some way below the highs of recent years. A surfeit of supply and question marks over demand as global stocks see-saw on China-inspired panic the contributing factors. This is reflected in the performance of the FTSE All Share Oil & Gas sector which has fallen 21.9% year-to-date.Thereby...

London equities recover from declines posted at the market open to rally modestly with miners reversing early falls despite commodity prices acting as a drag on the sector. The start of the UK government's £2.1 billion share sale of its stake in Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is another big issue that will be closely watched by investor on Tuesday.The benchmark FTSE 100 index manages to nudge...

London shares start Friday trading modestly lower as investors look to top slice short-term profit gains. The FTSE 100 index nudges around 10 points lower to 6,788, while the FTSE 250 midcaps and the wider FTSE All-Share post similarly slight declines, with market attention finally switching away from Greece debt and on to an increasingly likely uptick in the interest rate environment.Bank of...

'Most people get interested in stocks when everyone else is. The time to get interested is when no one else is. You can't buy what is popular and do well.' Warren Buffett's famous quotation certainly resonates with gold mining equities. Five years ago you couldn't move for every Tom, Dick and Harry talking about the merits of the sector, giving you tips on hot prospects and everyone declaring...

A discounted share placing to buy a mining project previously discarded by the chief executive under a previous job has left some Xtract Resources (XTR:AIM) investors scratching their heads. Don't panic; this looks a very interesting deal and one which could help the small cap become a 100,000 ounce per year gold producer in the not-too-distant future.The $12.5 million purchase of the Manica...

Stock markets across Europe suffer steep falls in early trade on Monday as the Greece debt crisis intensifies amid a swathe of capital controls imposed by Greek leaders and calls for a referendum on bailout terms. French, German and Spanish stock markets all start the week's trading deep in the red, while the EU-wide Euro Stoxx 50 index slumps close to 3.5%, just about keeping its head above...

The FTSE 100 is trading 39.3 points higher (0.57%) at 6,966 on mixed results from some of its largest companies.Imperial Tobacco (IMT) led the risers in early trading gaining 2.6% to £32.06 thanks to an upbeat outlook offsetting concerns over interim sales falling 5%.Supermarkets operator Sainsbury's (SBRY) cheapens 1.2% (3.35p) to 271.65p despite delivering slightly better-than-expected...

Richer grades of gold concentrate from a mine in Chile help to fuel the rally in small cap Xtract Resources (XTR:AIM), up 20% to 0.3p.After setbacks last year, it's fair to say that 2015 has been fantastic for the £15 million cap with the share price up 335% since early February as investors clamber for a slice of the gold and copper business.Chief executive officer Jan Nelson has good...

UK markets are boosted early on Wednesday by a takeover offer for BG (BG.) and hopes for more merger and acquisition activity. The benchmark FTSE 100 index is again pressing the key 7,000 level, up around 28 points, or 0.4%, at 6,990, while midcaps are also on the rise, the FTSE 250 close to 0.4% higher at 17,562.Royal Dutch Shell's (RDSB) £47 billion bid for BG - which you can read about in...

China's margin loan bubbleThe Shanghai A-Share index slumped 7.7% on Monday (19 Jan) as regulators imposed restrictions on margin lending. Loans secured on stock nearly doubled to $161 billion in the last six months, according to a New York Times report, prompting concerns of a bubble. (WC)Novae's 6.4% yieldNon-life insurer Novae's (NVA) shareholders are in-line for a special dividend,...

Resource firms are coming into focus as investors search for oversold equities and yield opportunities. But anyone deploying cash here needs to step back and take a careful look at the project economics relating to each individual miner or oil and gas play given what is likely to remain a challenging backcloth for commodity prices.When commodity prices were roaring away, picking a successful...

A recurring theme among institutional investors in the wake of last week's Mines & Money conference in London is the lack of effort by miners to communicate with shareholders. Accusations abound that management teams would rather 'hide in the jungle' than do regular face-to-face meetings.With no sign of a strong recovery in commodity prices, it is not surprising to see investors demand more...