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The inflation signals keep lighting up
Thursday 24 Feb 2022February’s flash PMI (purchasing manager index) data (21 Feb) showed the UK economy rebounding strongly from the recent Omicron related lull in activity with the services component registering an eight-month high of 61.8. Readings over 50 signal an expanding economy. Cost pressures remained...
Introducing our new column on US markets: Wall Street Week
Thursday 24 Feb 2022UK investors are increasingly interested in US stock markets given the breadth of companies and ease at which you can buy and sell shares listed on places like the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq. The S&P 500, Dow Jones and Nasdaq indices are closely watched by investors around the world,...
The firms which might be next after latest UK takeovers
Thursday 24 Feb 2022Takeovers of British companies reached a 14-year high by value in the first seven months of 2021 according to data from Refinitiv and the action shows little sign of letting up in 2022. The total value of deals during this aforementioned period was $198 billion, a more than three-fold increase on...
Banks fail to inspire despite upgrades and buybacks
Thursday 24 Feb 2022The market response to the start of the banks reporting season in the form of numbers from NatWest ( NWG ) (18 Feb) and HSBC ( HSBA ) (22 Feb), has been decidedly lukewarm. Share prices in both banks drifted lower on results. This looks surprising given that NatWest’s results were ahead of...
Burger King UK could be heading to the London stock market
Thursday 17 Feb 2022Burger King’s UK operation is set to join the London stock market, according to reports. Private equity firm Bridgepoint ( BPT ) has been the master franchisee for Burger King UK since 2018 but is now believed to have appointed advisers with a view to floating the business on the London Stock...
What a Russian invasion of Ukraine might mean for markets
Thursday 17 Feb 2022The tensions on the Ukrainian border may have eased slightly as we write but the situation remains highly febrile with Washington and London still warning of an imminent Russian invasion. Historically war hasn’t agreed with the stock market, particularly in the short term. This makes sense given it...
Why British American Tobacco is up more than a quarter in two months
Thursday 17 Feb 2022During the last two months shares in British American Tobacco (BATS ) are up by 26.5%. There are two very different reasons for this share price surge. The first is the changing macro-economic environment. Rampant inflation has resulted in a succession of UK interest rate rises, and expectations...
Rising costs may cloud UK banks’ results
Thursday 17 Feb 2022With the FTSE 350 banks index having doubled in price since hitting a low in September 2020 on value hunting in the first instance and the prospect of higher interest rates more recently, the UK’s big four high street banks now need to repay investors’ faith. Their chance to do that comes this...
Looming Amazon growth questions masked by stock surge
Thursday 10 Feb 2022Online retail giant Amazon posted the biggest one-day gain since 2012 last week after blowing fourth quarter 2021 earnings estimates out of the water, despite missing on revenue growth. Yet the numbers were less impressive than they might have first appeared. Amazon shares jumped from $2,776.91 to...
PayPal hit by pressured consumer spending and competitive threats
Thursday 10 Feb 2022Shares in digital payments giant PayPal fell nearly 25% after reporting disappointing fourth quarter results. Investors were also unsettled by the anaemic earnings guidance for 2022. The group has been negatively impacted by cost of living pressures on consumer spending, particularly among those on...