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UK to see 24 stocks added to important global market index
Thursday 18 Nov 2021A wide range of UK stocks are set to benefit from inclusion in the MSCI Global Small Cap index when it rebalances at the end of the month. Tracker funds that follow the index will be forced to buy the newly qualified stocks. The MSCI Global Small Cap index captures small cap representation across...
Johnson & Johnson rips off Band-Aid in consumer healthcare battle
Thursday 18 Nov 2021Johnson & Johnson plans to spin off its consumer products unit which comprise some of the world’s most iconic brands such as Neutrogena, Tylenol and Band-Aid. The division is expected to generate around $15 billion of revenues in 2021 which represent around 16% of the company’s overall revenues...
What Shell’s corporate restructure means for UK shareholders
Thursday 18 Nov 2021The decision by Royal Dutch Shell ( RDSB ) to tidy up its corporate structure has gone down well with the stock market. It means that Shell will no longer have two classes of shares, currently A and B, and it will have a more streamlined corporate name. Formed as a combination between Netherlands...
Walt Disney’s slowing subscriber growth hobbles its shares
Thursday 18 Nov 2021Shares in entertainment company Walt Disney plunged 9%, extending their losses in a difficult year for the company, as fourth quarter results (10 Nov) disappointed investors and fell short of analysts’ expectations. The company has been tripped up by a combination of weaker than expected subscriber...
China’s Singles’ Day shopping event could disappoint
Thursday 11 Nov 2021Inspired by the annual Black Friday sales event in the US, Singles’ Day began as a way for people in China to celebrate being single by treating themselves to gifts, but is now popular with consumers across the board. Moreover, it no longer just takes place on 11 November but begins weeks before as...
Market fails to reward consensus-beating third quarter results
Thursday 11 Nov 2021Research by the Morgan Stanley strategy team reveals that European third quarter earnings are on target to exceed consensus analyst forecasts. This should trigger a series of earnings upgrades which in theory provides support to equity markets. However, the response from the market to third...
UK stock winners from the $1 trillion US infrastructure plan
Thursday 11 Nov 2021The belated approval of US president Joe Biden’s $1 trillion infrastructure plan is a positive development for several UK-listed businesses. However, this is not ‘new’ news to the market as the spending package had been in the post for months, held up by brinksmanship and haggling. The spending...
Elon Musk’s stock sale could force tracker funds to buy more Tesla shares
Thursday 11 Nov 2021Elon Musk’s pledge to sell 10% of his Tesla shares following his controversial Twitter poll could force US tracker funds to buy more stock because of the way they calculate index stock weightings. In the UK, tracker funds work out how much of each FTSE index constituent they should own based on a...
Pfizer breakthrough could see travel stocks finally play catch-up
Thursday 11 Nov 2021The end of the pandemic could finally be in sight after US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer said its Covid-19 oral antiviral pill Paxlovid could be a ‘game changer’ that reduced the risk of hospitalisations and death by 89% in high-risk patients. Add that to the existing mass-market vaccines and the...
Primark eyes US expansion as part of broader growth plan
Thursday 11 Nov 2021Shares in Associated British Foods ( ABF ) rallied strongly on better-than-expected full-year results (9 Nov) and news the foods-to-fashion conglomerate will pay a 13.8p special dividend and seek to buy back shares under a new capital allocation framework. Yet the real excitement surrounded the...