27 February 2025
Nvidia revenues jump, but what are the risks ahead?Nvidia’s results have once again shown a company riding a wave of demand linked to artificial intelligence (AI). In the fourth quarter of 2024 it grew revenue by 78% year-on-year to $39.3 billion and earnings per share went up 71% to $0.89.
Chief executive Jensen Huang even said AI is “advancing at light speed” and that Nvidia is seeing “amazing”...
27 February 2025
Russ Mould: What to expect from Ashtead and Fresnillo updatesRuss Mould discusses the impact of President Donald J. Trump's policies on markets and previews key UK corporate results. Special focus on Ashtead (AHT) and Fresnillo's (FRES) upcoming reports.
27 February 2025
Daily market update: Rolls-Royce, WPP, Ocado, Howden Joinery“On a busy day for corporate results the FTSE 100 was flat as some names impressed but others suffered significant setbacks,” says AJ Bell Investment Director Russ Mould.
“US stocks moved higher overnight in anticipation of Nvidia’s results. However, shares in the chip giant were down modestly in pre-market trading following the results and Asian...
26 February 2025
Daily market update: DeepSeek, Chemring, Aston Martin Lagonda“The FTSE 100 made a strong start to trading on Wednesday, lifted by gains for banks and mining stocks,” says AJ Bell Investment Director Russ Mould.
“This followed a rebound for Asian markets, as a rally in the Chinese tech sector resumed and copper prices moved higher as commodity traders weighed the potential impact of tariffs floated by the...
25 February 2025
Daily market update: Unilever, Semiconductor restrictions on China, Smith & Nephew“The FTSE 100 made a reasonable start to trading on Tuesday despite a late slump on Wall Street and selling across Asia,” says AJ Bell Investment Director Russ Mould.
“Suggestions the Trump administration would toughen existing restrictions on exporting semiconductors to China and hints tariffs on Canada and Mexico, initially delayed, were still...
24 February 2025
Daily market update: B&M, Just Eat Takeaway, National Grid“The FTSE 100 made a steady start to the week as German elections largely delivered the result the market was expecting,” says AJ Bell Investment Director Russ Mould.
“There were gains elsewhere in Europe as a business-friendly government under new chancellor Friedrich Merz looks to have a clear path to victory.
“How the market response develops...
21 February 2025
Daily market update: Standard Chartered, Alibaba“The FTSE 100 was flat on Friday in early trading, despite advances for Asian stocks overnight,” says AJ Bell Investment Director Russ Mould.
“The gains in Hong Kong and China came amid renewed excitement about the tech sector in the region as Alibaba announced big AI spending plans.
“In the UK, financials were in demand after a strong set of...
20 February 2025
Russ Mould: The best and worst FTSE 100 companies set to report next weekAJ Bell's Investment Director, Russ Mould gives us a break down on what to expect from the FTSE 100's best performer International Consolidated Airlines (IAG), the market's worst performer Croda (CRDA) and market laggard Smith & Nephew (SN.) when they report next week.
20 February 2025
Daily market update: Lloyds, Centrica, Anglo American“The FTSE 100 started Thursday modestly in the red as some big names on the index traded without the rights to their upcoming dividends,” says AJ Bell Investment Director Russ Mould.
“Overnight US shares had an uneventful session, while Asian shares largely fell amid continuing nervousness about the impact of US tariffs.
“Figures from the British...
19 February 2025
Daily market update: BAE Systems, Glencore, HSBC, Jet2“The FTSE 100 dipped at the open on Wednesday, dragged lower by weakness among housebuilders and as commodities giant Glencore fell on poorly received results,” says AJ Bell Head of Investment Analysis Laith Khalaf.
“Higher-than-expected UK inflation was seen as reducing the chances of interest rate cuts from the Bank of England, which is bad news...
18 February 2025
Daily market update: FTSE 100, BHP, InterContinental Hotels“The FTSE 100 made a sluggish start on Tuesday as jobs data showed accelerating wage growth which helped to boost the pound,” says AJ Bell Investment Director Russ Mould.
“Strength in sterling is typically bad news for the UK’s flagship index because it hits the relative value of its constituents’ dominant overseas earnings.
“ BT was the worst FTSE...
17 February 2025
Daily market update: Defence stocks, Shein, Anglo American, MONY Group“European markets pushed ahead on Monday amid talk of greater defence spending, M&A activity and a series of important political meetings,” says Russ Mould, Investment Director at AJ Bell.
“Ukraine peace talks topped the agenda, while Chinese president Xi Jinping undertook a rare meeting with some of China’s biggest tech firms to boost business...
14 February 2025
Daily market update: NatWest, luxury sector, Wood Group“After a solid session on Wall Street last night, European markets took a step back on the last trading day of the week,” says Russ Mould, Investment Director at AJ Bell.
“Banking and pharma stocks pulled the market down, led by HSBC amid talk of more job cuts. Reducing staff numbers typically yields a positive reaction from the market as the...
14 February 2025
Gold hits a new all-time highThis year’s record highs in the US, UK and German stock markets continue to make headlines, but another, much more unsung asset is also breaking new ground and that is gold, which hit $2,942 an ounce on 11 February.
The metal’s 44% surge in the past year has even outpaced the 31% increase in the combined valuation of the so-called ‘Magnificent...
13 February 2025
Russ Mould: What to expect from a trio of miners' latest resultsRuss Mould runs through what we can expect from Antofagasta, Glencore and Rio Tinto when they announce their latest set of results next week (w/c: 17 February 2025).
13 February 2025
Covid market crash five years on: the UK and US stocks left behind Untitled DocumentThe impact of the covid-19 pandemic is still being felt on the stock market five years after shares, bonds and currencies crashed.
21 February 2025 marks five years since stock markets were on the eve of crashing thanks to the global pandemic. When markets closed on the Friday (21/02/20), investors were nervous about what was...
13 February 2025
Daily market update: British American Tobacco, Barclays, Unilever“A surprise uptick in the UK economy gave a glimmer of hope to consumer-facing stocks, with JD Sports, EasyJet, Howden Joinery and Taylor Wimpey all moving higher,” says Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.
“A 0.4% positive reading in December is better than the 0.1% growth forecast by economists, but it’s hardly cause for major celebration...
12 February 2025
Daily market update: Barratt Redrow, Close Brothers, Dr Martens“US inflation figures are the big event of the day for investors as they could provide insight into what the Federal Reserve does next with interest rates,” says Russ Mould, Investment Director at AJ Bell.
“Fed chair Jerome Powell will also continue his testimony before Congress, but don’t expect him to react to the latest inflation figures. He’ll...
12 February 2025
Short sellers are targeting UK stocks at risk from Rachel Reeves’ Budget decisionsShort sellers are circling a group of UK consumer-facing stocks with the goal of profiting from falling share prices, potentially caused by Rachel Reeves’ Budget decisions.
Business and consumer sentiment is already weakening amid concerns that the new government doesn’t have an effective plan to accelerate economic growth. On 6 February, the Bank...
11 February 2025
Daily market update: BP, Entain, OpenAI, Dunelm, Bellway“The FTSE 100 was nudged into positive territory by a mix of industrials, financial stocks and retailers,” says AJ Bell Investment Director Russ Mould.
“US president Donald Trump’s move to impose sweeping steel and aluminium tariffs had earlier led to tetchy trading in Asia. The administration is clearly prepared to implement tariffs rather than...
10 February 2025
Daily market update: BP, Johnson Matthey, Filtronic“Trump tariffs on steel and aluminium sold into the US is negative for markets on two levels,” says Russ Mould, Investment Director at AJ Bell.
“First, it suggests the new US president has only just got started with America’s budding protectionist trade policy. Second, it extends the affected countries beyond Canada, China and Mexico to places like...
7 February 2025
Calm returns to US markets after Trump tariff threatThe popular perception among most investors at the start of 2025 was that Donald Trump’s bark was worse than his bite – in other words, some of the more outlandish promises he made on the hustings were unlikely to translate into actual policies.
Three weeks after the inauguration, that assumption has already been tossed out of the window as one...
7 February 2025
Daily market update: Legal & General, Marks & Spencer“It’s been a golden year so far for investors in more ways than one,” says Russ Mould, Investment Director at AJ Bell.
“While stock markets paused for breath at the end of a big week for economics and corporate earnings, commodity markets remained on the front foot.
“Having hit a new record high earlier this week and then suffered a small pullback...
7 February 2025
Russ Mould: What to expect from Barclays’ and Natwest’s latests resultsRuss Mould runs through what we can expect from Barclays and Natwest when they announce their latest set of results next week.
6 February 2025
Daily market update: AstraZeneca, Anglo American, Kering, Babcock, Maersk“The FTSE 100 has hit another record high at 8,720 as investors piled into healthcare, energy and mining stocks and the index benefited from a weaker pound,” says Russ Mould, Investment Director at AJ Bell.
“A weaker pound against the US dollar benefits companies which earn some or all of their money in the American currency, hence why we saw...