Stocks in Europe were higher on Thursday morning as many companies published results on the final day of the month, which is filled with key economic indicators such as inflation and unemployment data from across the globe. The FTSE 100 index opened up 44.46 points, 0.5%, at 9,181.40. The FTSE 250 was up 168.19 points, 0.8%, at 21,944.77, and the AIM All-Share was down 1.12 points, 0.2%, at...

After a year-on-year decline of 4.6% in the amount of dividends paid out by UK firms in the first quarter of 2025 (to £14 billion), there was another drop in the total payout in the second quarter according to the latest report by global financial services company Computershare. However, before income investors throw their arms in the air, the headline decline of 1.4% to £35.1 billion masks...

A couple of weeks ago, Shares took a look at a handful of 'under-the-radar' stocks held by some of the most popular funds readers would be familiar with, such as Fundsmith (B41YBW7), JPMorgan Growth & Income (JGGI) and Fidelity Special Situations (B88V3X4). In this feature, we are investigating 'under-the-radar' funds, little-known gems which in their own right could make a useful addition to...

Following on the heels of AIM's 30th anniversary last month, this week marks the 90th anniversary of the FT30 index (on 1 July, to be precise). Never heard of it, you say? Founded in 1935 by the Financial News, it was originally called the Financial News 30-Share Index before changing its name to the FT30 in 1945 after the newspaper merged with the Financial Times. The index is similar to the...

Continuing reverberations from President Tump's redrawing of the global world order saw the UK government announce its SDR (Strategic Defence Review), aimed at moving the UK to a position of 'war fighting readiness.' Having already committed to increase military spending to 2.5% of GDP (gross domestic product) by 2028, on 1 June Prime Minister Starmer revealed plans to increase spending to 3%...

Defensives hold up in sell-offNew appetite for growth stocksBanks unable to shake off lossesAs the dust settles from the three-day 'Liberation Day'-inspired sell-off, the list of winners and losers makes for interesting reading.Not everything which held up during the market meltdown is being sold off, and not everything which racked up big losses is rebounding, unlike in previous recoveries,...

FTSE 100 down more than 3% at 7,763.65 Defensive and utilities stocks hold steady Entain and Taylor Wimpey 'winners' UK housebuilder Taylor Wimpey (TW.) and gambling firm Entain (ENT) bucked the trend by falling less than the blue-chip FTSE 100 index. Taylor Wimpey and other housebuilders were perhaps anticipating the possibility of the Bank of England cutting interest rates this year as a...

Shares in Rolls-Royce (RR.) surged to a new 52-week high of 792p (3 March) as the aero-engine maker continued to impress investors with its post-pandemic turnaround.Under the helm of chief executive Tufan Erginbilgic, who was appointed in January 2023, the company has made a steady recovery and recently posted stronger-than-forecast full year results.On 27 February, the Derby-headquartered...

Just over five years ago the stock market began to react in earnest to news of the Covid pandemic.The sell-off was short and sharp, with a modest recovery from the lows in the spring followed by sharper gains in November 2020 after AstraZeneca (AZN) made a vaccine breakthrough.However, a large number of UK stocks are still trading below the levels they were at by the close of trading on 21...

Margins up in all divisionsMid-term targets upgradedRolls-Royce returns to dividend listInvestors who thought Rolls-Royce's (RR.) recovery story would lose momentum were proven wrong on 27 February as shares in the aero-engine maker surged 15% to 725.4p, a new record high, on superb full-year results and upgraded targets.Derby-headquartered Rolls-Royce, which will go down as one of the...

Aero-engine maker Rolls-Royce (RR.) will go down as one of the greatest turnaround stories on record, with chief executive Tufan Erginbilgic injecting the sort of short, sharp, shock treatment the company needed.Stephen Anness, manager of Invesco Global Equity Income Trust (IGET), first invested in Rolls back in 2020, since when the company has 'gone through a remarkable transformation,' he...

Law Debenture Corporation (LWDB) 899pMarket cap: £1.19 billionFinancial markets have been rocked by the twists and turns of the tariff situation created by US president Donald Trump, which threatens to turn into a full-blown trade war. This has spooked investors since it could result in higher inflation and halt further interest rate cuts, which is likely to be negative for equities and could...

Keen investor Phil first got the bug in the mid-1980s when his mum bought him 100 shares in Cable & Wireless shares.Cable & Wireless was a trailblazing cable company set up more than a century ago and by the start of 2000, C&W Group, as it was then, had a market value of around £38 billion. When the business was demerged in 2010 its value had shrunk to £4 billion ? with the now two separate...

UK indices closed Monday in the green amid Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tendering his resignation and reports of a possible watering down of Trump's tariff agenda.The FTSE 100 index ended up 25.68 points, 0.3%, at 8,249.66. The FTSE 250 climbed 21.25 points, 0.1%, at 20,612.65. The AIM All-Share rose 3.55 points, 0.5%, at 728.95.The Cboe UK 100 closed up 0.2% at 826.32, the Cboe UK...

Analysts expect £78.5 billion in payouts£56.5 billion of buybacks this yearFTSE 100 up over 7% in 2024The latest AJ Bell Dividend Dashboard report shows FTSE 100 constituents are on course to pay £78.5 billion in ordinary dividends this year.That figure is almost flat on 2023 and well below the all-time high of £85.2 billion recorded in 2018, although analysts are penciling in a 6.5%...

In the first part of a three-part series featuring opinions and ideas from some of the UK's leading fund managers, we asked which stocks have surprised them the most over the course of the 2024 and why.While it was hard to avoid the influence of AI (artificial intelligence) on portfolios, the breadth of responses was surprising and goes to show how skilled stock-pickers can turn up gems in...

The UK stock market has performed robustly over the past year, with several companies standing out significantly. In this article, we will examine the top-performing large-cap, mid-cap, and small-cap stocks of 2024, dissected across four different market valuation categories.£5 BILLION+ MARKET CAPAfter a stellar 2023, aeronautical engineer Rolls-Royce (RR.) has once again rallied hard during...

There was a certain degree of investor bemusement last month when shares in US electricity generation company Constellation Energy (CEG:NASDAQ) soared on news technology giant Microsoft (MSFT:NASDAQ) had signed a 20-year power purchase agreement.This was no ordinary deal, however, as it paves the way for the restart of Three Mile Island 1 ? not the reactor which famously melted down in 1979,...

Paul's very first taste of investing came when his employer, aerospace and defence company Rolls Royce (RR.), introduced an employee share scheme which gave him what seemed to be a low-risk way of getting exposure to its shares.It seemed low risk, explains Paul, because the scheme allowed employees to save a monthly or four weekly amount for five years and at the end of the period the savings...

Aeronautical engineer Rolls-Royce (RR.) is not going to be caught up in a new crisis after airline Cathay Pacific (0293:HKG) found a fault with the engines used 'on its fleet of Airbus (AIR:EPA) A350 jets.This was the prevailing mood among investors and analysts as the dust settled on a late afternoon trading session on 2 September following reports that a Rolls-Royce component failure led...