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Oil price hits six-month high amid sanctions and cold weather
Thursday 16 Jan 2025Oil prices have hit a six-month high amid cold weather and new US sanctions on Russian sales of crude. This is not entirely bad news for the FTSE 100 given the heavy weighting of oil giants BP (BP.) and Shell (SHEL) in the index, but not for nothing is oil known as a tax on economic growth. Higher...
Why rising bond yields are testing equity investors’ risk appetite
Thursday 16 Jan 2025American novelist Ernest Hemmingway coined the phrase ‘gradually then suddenly’ in his 1926 Novel The Sun also Rises, and that seems an appropriate description of investor’s reaction to rising bond yields. UK 10-year bond yields sit just shy of 5% compared with close to 4% in the middle of October...
Investors sour on alcohol stocks after US surgeon general calls for cancer warning labels
Thursday 09 Jan 2025Alcoholic drinks stocks are nursing hangovers in the wake of the US surgeon general’s call (3 January) for more prominent warning labels on boozy drinks to raise awareness of their link to cancer. A report addressed a ‘direct link’ between alcohol consumption and an increased risk of cancer;...
Next bucks weak retail trend while Tesco and Sainsburys celebrate blow-out Christmas sales
Thursday 09 Jan 2025It may not have been a ‘golden’ fourth quarter for UK retailers in general, but once again Next (NXT) – typically the first company to issue a Christmas trading statement – delivered the goods with forecast-beating sales and profit guidance. At the same time, supermarket groups Tesco (TSCO) and...
On The Beach shares hit 52-week high in January
Thursday 09 Jan 2025Shares in beach holidays specialist On The Beach (OTB) have been on a roll since the announcement of its record full-year results on 3 December. The strong momentum saw the stock hit a 52-week high of 258p on 2 January, also its highest level since 2022. A combination of factors have seen investors...
Investors see green shoots of life in a moribund new listings market
Thursday 09 Jan 2025Most UK investors will be glad to see the back of 2024 which saw the largest outflow of companies from the main market since the global financial crisis, with 88 companies delisting or transferring their main listing, according to new research from consultancy EY. It was also one of the quietest...
Poolbeg Pharma shares go into freefall after merger talks with US biotech firm revealed
Thursday 09 Jan 2025Shares in Poolbeg Pharma (POLB:AIM) nearly halved after the company announced it was in merger talks with US biotech firm Hookipa Pharma (HOOK:NASDAQ). If the all-share proposition goes ahead the newly combined group, with a special focus on next-generation immunotherapies for the treatment of...
UK stocks see October’s record outflow turn into net inflows in November
Thursday 19 Dec 2024In terms of an early Christmas present, the UK market received its very own ‘secret Santa’ gift last month with the first net inflow into funds invested in UK stocks since April 2021. According to data from consultants Calastone, fund flows turned positive in November after record outflows in...
SThree shares slump 28% after shock cut to earnings guidance
Thursday 19 Dec 2024Specialty recruitment firm SThree (STEM) , which focuses on filling roles in science, technology, engineering and mathematics settings, posted a downbeat trading statement for the 12 months to November and drastically cut its forecast for earnings for the current year. The shares, which were...
Raspberry Pi shares boot up after fresh tie-up and new product launch
Thursday 19 Dec 2024After the initial buzz around its June 2024 IPO, Raspberry Pi (RPI) seemed to be getting a few raspberries from the market as the shares drifted from their early highs. However, over the last month the stock has advanced more than 40% to trade at record levels. Founded by chief executive Eben Upton...