The week ahead: ECB rate meeting, US non-farm payrolls; Halfords, Zoom results

Watch our week ahead video preview, read our pick of the top stories to look out for this week (1-5 June), and view our key company earnings schedule.

29 May 2020

Upcoming indices dividend drop points

View the estimated indices dividend drop points* for week commencing 1 June 2020.

29 May 2020

Europe set for lower open, ahead of Trump China press conference

Having spent most of this week ignoring the prospect of an escalation of US, China tension over Hong Kong, despite various smoke signals throughout the week suggesting a confrontation was brewing, US markets turned tail sharply late last night on reports that President Trump was going to be holding a press conference later today on China.

29 May 2020

Europe rallies while US is muted, Boohoo pops, gold rises

Equity markets in Europe are set to finish the day in positive territory as traders are hoping that governments will continue to loosen their lockdown restrictions.

28 May 2020

Europe set to open higher, despite rising US-China tensions

US markets underwent a choppy session yesterday, opening higher on optimism over various parts of the US economy reopening, while also coping with the headwinds of rising tension between the US and China, over the status of Hong Kong.

28 May 2020

Equity markets slip from their peaks, as China threatens push back on US over Hong Kong

European markets have seen another solid session today, rallying for the third day in a row, over optimism over the lifting of lockdown restrictions, with airlines, travel and retail stocks all moving higher.

27 May 2020

Europe set to open higher, against backdrop of US-China tension

The increasing prospect that a slowing infection rate and falling death count will see economies start to slowly reopen next month has seen equity markets across the globe get off to a flying start this week, building on the gains we saw last week.

27 May 2020

Travel and leisure optimism propels European stocks to two-month highs

It’s been another decent day for European stock markets, with a second day of gains propelling the DAX to its highest levels since early March, while the FTSE 100 has underperformed.

26 May 2020

UK markets set for a positive start to the week, as Asia markets rise on vaccine hopes

With UK and US markets off yesterday, markets in Europe picked up from their strong gains last week to get off to another good start, with the German DAX breaking upward and hitting its highest levels since Friday 6 March.

26 May 2020

FTSE 100 underperforms amid Hong Kong woes, gold jumps, Alibaba dips

The FTSE 100 is underperforming against its continental counterparts as US-China tensions rise.

22 May 2020

Pandemic costs become clear as UK borrowing surges to a record

Another big rise in US weekly jobless claims along with a sharp rise in tensions between the US and China saw equity markets fall back from their weekly highs yesterday, as once again investor caution, overrode the early exuberance we saw at the beginning of the week.

22 May 2020

Hong Kong concerns hits sentiment, UK retail sales in focus

Worries about an increase in the rate of new Covid-19 cases weighed on equity market sentiment yesterday.

22 May 2020

Whitbread share price slides on £1bn rights issue, Europe opens lower

Another positive session for US markets last night, with new record highs for Amazon and Facebook, gave way to a rather mixed Asia session this morning as investors wrestle with the dilemma of a rise in infection rates as various economies start to ease their lockdowns.

21 May 2020

Royal Mail share price: can CEO change provide impetus?

Royal Mail Group [RMG] has been one of the few organisations that has continued working relatively normally throughout the Covid-19 crisis, albeit on the back of some modified working practices to ensure employee safety.

21 May 2020

Infection rate rises as economies reopen, PMI reports in focus

Bullish sentiment returned to equity markets yesterday as decent gains were posted in Europe as well as the US.

21 May 2020

Marks and Spencer share price: M&S profits fall 20% as it outlines Never the Same Again strategy

The Marks & Spencer share price has been in a slow decline for several years now, as management have tried and to large extent failed to grapple with the task of turning around a general merchandise operation.

20 May 2020