9 July 2020
Recruiters offer a little ray of hope for second halfTrading updates from recruitment specialists Robert Walters and PageGroup reveal just how tough the second quarter of 2020 has been for jobseekers. Robert Walters’ gross profit fell 33% year-on-year and Page’s net fee income by 47%, on a constant currency basis. Both firms also saw a fall in headcount at their own businesses. However, both...
9 July 2020
Investors back America and Tech during market turmoilWhile some regular names crop up on our most-purchased list such as Fundsmith Equity and the Vanguard LifeStrategy range, there are some funds that have shot up the list thanks to the market turmoil we’ve seen over the past six months.
The Polar Capital Global Technology fund has seen its assets soar during the crisis, and as a result has now soft...
9 July 2020
Housebuilders in a new sweet spot, and Rolls-Royce struggles on“Despite pushing ahead at the market open, the FTSE 100 couldn’t keep up the momentum and quickly dipped into negative territory with banks, utilities and tobacco dragging the index down,” says Russ Mould, Investment Director at AJ Bell.
“In the first hour of trading the FTSE 100 was 0.2% lower at 6,145. In comparison, the mid cap FTSE 250 index...
8 July 2020
Stamp duty sugar rush for the housing marketToday’s statement was always likely to focus on ‘good’ news items designed to stir the UK economy from its economic slumber. We got that in the form of a big VAT cut for the hospitality sector, new job creation programmes and a headline-grabbing reduction in stamp duty.
However, the Chancellor was clear stabilising the public finances and paying...
8 July 2020
Boohoo backlash continues, and FirstGroup flags going concern uncertainty“The FTSE 100 started off sharply lower before yo-yoing back to near parity in early trading on Wednesday,” says AJ Bell Investment Director Russ Mould.
“The market’s apparent indecision is understandable when you consider it has to balance the ongoing risks from coronavirus with the willingness of governments and central banks to prop up the...
7 July 2020
Whitbread looks ahead to full reopening, and Halfords pedals hard to go backwards“The FTSE 100 failed to hold on to yesterday’s gains as a big rally on Wall Street overnight was followed by mixed trading in Asia. The FTSE 100 fell 0.9% to 6,231.44,” says AJ Bell Investment Director Russ Mould.
“Downbeat commentary emanating from the US Federal Reserve, a new lockdown in Melbourne and spiralling US Covid-19 cases created a more...
6 July 2020
Shareholders wait to see if next Lloyds boss can get shares to gallop higher“When Antonio Horta-Osorio took over as the CEO of Lloyds in March 2011, the bank was in loss, still partially-owned by the state and under pressure from regulators on several fronts, so he will be able to look back at a return to profit, the spin-out of TSB and the development of the lender as a leaner, more digital organisation with satisfaction...
6 July 2020
14 FTSE 100 firms have broken their ten-year dividend growth streaksThe pandemic and economic downturn have taken their toll on the FTSE 100’s elite list of serial dividend raisers. Just 14 firms can now point to a record of at least ten consecutive increases in their annual dividend, down from 25 at the start of the year, and that includes three newcomers - Pennon, Legal & General and Intermediate Capital.
The...
6 July 2020
Change at the top for Lloyds, and Barratt Developments is cautiously optimistic“The willingness of global governments to support an economic rehabilitation from the Covid-19 pandemic and signs of improving sentiment in China provided the backdrop to today’s surge in the FTSE 100 as it looked to recapture the highs seen in early June, rising 2.2% to nearly 6,300,” says AJ Bell Investment Director Russ Mould.
“Asian markets...
3 July 2020
Land Securities primed to restore dividend paymentsThe Restoration of the monarchy under King Charles II is seen by many historians as the end of the joyless times of the Commonwealth and a return to jollier ones under Old Rowley and his merry gang of courtiers, so equity investors will be hoping that Land Securities’ decision to restore its dividend in 2020 is a sign of better times to come for...
3 July 2020
UK markets lag Asian rally and Land Securities to resume dividends“UK stocks struggled to keep up with the rally in Asian markets on Friday as weakness in the energy sector acted as a drag. The FTSE 100 only managed to nudge 0.1% ahead to 6,246 as a decline in Royal Dutch Shell and BP weighed on the performance of the index,” says Russ Mould, Investment Director at AJ Bell.
“The top risers on the FTSE 100...
2 July 2020
Fund added to the AJ Bell Favourite funds listWe’ve added the Jupiter Japan Income fund.
What is the AJ Bell Favourite funds list?
The AJ Bell Favourite funds list is designed to lighten your research load. To narrow the field, we’ve attempted to select a high-quality shortlist of funds that we think are capable of delivering their objectives over the long term. To make the list, each fund...
2 July 2020
Associated British Foods gets back on its feet, and DS Smith disappoints on dividends“Renewed optimism over finding a vaccine for coronavirus more than offset concerns over US unemployment figures later today, causing stocks to push ahead across Asia and Europe,” says Russ Mould, Investment Director at AJ Bell.
“Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index climbed 2.1% while Germany’s DAX index advanced 1%.
“In the UK, the FTSE 100 traded 0.6%...
1 July 2020
Argos lifts Sainsbury’s and SSP to cut UK workforce in half“For the same reason that markets didn’t take much notice of backward-looking apocalyptic economic data in the spring, more positive data seen recently is also being put to one side as investors instead look ahead to a potential coronavirus second wave and tensions over Hong Kong,” says AJ Bell Investment Director Russ Mould.
“The FTSE 100 dipped...
30 June 2020
Robinson packs a welcome dividend punch“With a market cap of just £16 million, packaging play Robinson may not be a household name but its profile may go up a notch or two after its decision to reinstate dividend payments,” says Russ Mould, AJ Bell Investment Director.
“The company joined AIM in 2004 and had always made a dividend payment of some form or other until the board felt...
30 June 2020
Trailer for Shell’s second quarter spooks investors, and Redrow pleas for Help to Buy existing scheme extension“The biggest quarterly drop in UK GDP in more than a generation helped contribute to a downbeat feel for the markets on Tuesday,” says AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.
“Combined with the warning from the World Health Organisation that the worst of the coronavirus pandemic was yet to come and it’s easy to see why investors would be feeling...
29 June 2020
Markets look past new coronavirus flare-ups with gains across Europe on Monday“Investors’ fears over a second wave of Covid-19 have proved correct after China reinstated a lockdown for 400,000 people after a spike in the virus. The US also continues to struggle to contain infections, seeing a sharp uptick in the daily number of cases in Texas. In the UK, there is chatter that Leicester could face a localised lockdown after a...
26 June 2020
Six months of market mayhem – the best and worst performing funds of the yearThe past six months has been a period most investors will never forget – but many would dearly like to. Markets have been on a wild ride, with the FTSE 100 index hitting a high of 7,675 in January before plummeting to a low of just under 5,000 in March.
Investors in UK markets are still sitting on heavy losses as we near the six-month marker in...
26 June 2020
Tesco should reap longer-term benefits from its hard work during the pandemic, and is time finally up for Intu?“Governments and central banks continue to shield equities from the bad news on fresh spikes in coronavirus and evidence of the economic damage wrought by the pandemic,” says AJ Bell Investment Director Russ Mould.
“That explains a strong end to the week for the FTSE 100 which is up more than 1%. The question is how long fiscal and monetary...
25 June 2020
Shareholders left wishing they could return Royal Mail to senderToday’s full-year results from Royal Mail, which live down to very low profit expectations, confirm the cancellation of the dividend and acknowledge the firm’s failure to move with the times, mean the debate over who got short-changed and by how much when Royal Mail was floated by the Cameron-Osborne administration in autumn 2013 is over. As it...
25 June 2020
EasyJet gets a financial injection and Royal Mail failures exposed by Covid-19“Any gains made by equities over the last week or so are being wiped out as concern builds over the increase in coronavirus infections in the US,” says Russ Mould, Investment Director at AJ Bell.
“Selling which started in Europe on Wednesday spread to the US overnight, not helped by sickly looking US manufacturing numbers.
” Apple’s decision to...
24 June 2020
FTSE swoons on second wave fears and lockdown hunger drives Premier Foods’ sales growth“Just when it looks like the markets are shaking themselves free of coronavirus another bout of worry returns to put them on their back,” says AJ Bell Investment Director Russ Mould.
“The US is seeing a spike in new cases in some states, although whether this reflects a second wave or a continuation of the first wave is open to debate.
“Other...
23 June 2020
FTSE higher after seesaw session on Wall Street, and Rightmove reports surge in housing market activity“The FTSE 100 was firmly higher on Tuesday after traders on Wall Street were left with sore necks thanks to the whiplash-like nature of last night’s session,” says AJ Bell Investment Director Russ Mould.
“Comments from the Trump administration that the US-China trade deal was over led to selling before a rapid clarification and a tweet from Donald...
22 June 2020
Mixed messages shake the market and JD Sports weighs up the future for Go Outdoors“Investors continue to be pulled from different directions by various headwinds and tailwinds. On one hand there is positive news such as Spain accepting UK tourists without the need for quarantine, adding to the list of restrictions being lifted across Europe. On the other hand, the US still seems to be struggling to contain the coronavirus and...
19 June 2020
Retail rebound as FTSE looks to end the week on a positive note“An up and down (and up again) session in the US overnight didn’t prevent a relatively calm start for the FTSE 100 on Friday. The index looked to finish the week on a positive note rising 0.4% to 6,251.77,” says Russ Mould, Investment Director at AJ Bell.
“Investors would probably welcome an uneventful day with little new news on a spike in fresh...