The UK and China were the best performing markets globally in July 2025, yet fund flow data shows no interest from UK retail investors. What is going on? The FTSE 100 returned 4.2% in July including dividends, driven by double-digit gains from the likes of vapes-to-cigarette maker British American Tobacco (BATS), consumer goods group Reckitt (RKT), and gambling specialist Entain (ENT). Market...

Baxdrostat shows meaningful drop in blood pressure Regulatory filing expected by year end Targeting $5 billion annual sales Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca (AZN) said it plans to file for regulatory approval of its experimental blood pressure treatment baxdrostat before the end of 2025 after it showed positive results in a late-stage clinical trial. The shares ticked up 1% to £118.84, taking...

UK inflation is creeping back up again. As measured by the consumer price index, or CPI, the rise in the cost of living was 3.6% in June 2025, up from 3.4% in May, and rising at its fastest rate since January 2024. Prices are almost 28% higher than they were five years ago, according to ONS (Office of National Statistics) data. Over the past five years, CPI growth has averaged about 4% per...

London stocks ended the week on the back foot, as weak US payroll figures and a fresh wave of tariffs announced by President Trump rattled global sentiment and fuelled rate cut speculation. The FTSE 100 index closed down 64.23 points, 0.7%, at 9,068.58. The FTSE 250 closed 263.49 points lower, 1.2%, at 21,699.34, and the AIM All-Share closed down 4.34 points, 0.6%, at 757.16. For the week, the...

The stark contrast between the excitement surrounding everything AI and the depressed state of the biotechnology sector tells a lot about the current polarisation of investor sentiment. Putting the numbers into context, the total value of the biotechnology industry is a mere 'drop in the ocean' $1.5 trillion compared with the $16 billion to $18 trillion market capitalisation of the Magnificent...

European blue-chips closed lower on Monday after the latest round of tariff threats from US President Donald Trump, and as the Bank of England mulls potential cuts to interest rates. The FTSE 100 index closed up 56.94 points, 0.6%, at 8,998.06. It earlier hit a new all-time peak of 8,999.22. The FTSE 250 ended up 111.52 points, 0.5%, at 21,724.77, and the AIM All-Share rose 0.50 of a point,...

Baxdrostat significantly lowers blood pressure Addresses unmet clinical need 1.3 billion people live with hypertension AstraZeneca (AZN) was one of the top gainers in the FTSE on Monday (14 July) after the pharmaceutical giant said its experimental drug baxdrostat showed a statistically significant reduction in systolic blood pressure in late-stage trials. The shares ticked 2% higher to...

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...

Imfinzi gets EU nod for bladder cancer First perioperative immunotherapy Considering US primary listing Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca (AZN) said the European Union has approved its cancer drug Imfinzi for the treatment of adult patients with (MIBC) muscle-invasive bladder cancer which can be removed by surgery. The shares ticked-up 9p or 0.1% to £102.1 on the news, taking the year-to-date...

There have been two major pieces of news regarding weight-loss drugs in recent weeks, adding further evidence that we're seeing one of the biggest healthcare revolutions in decades. It's also feeding into the investment world with more stocks being drawn into the conversation. A new study concluded that weight-loss drugs could halve the risk of obesity-related cancers. Cancer experts said the...

JPMorgan Claverhouse Investment Trust (JCH) 760p Market cap: £419.9 million Investors seeking to inflation-proof portfolios and tap into the re-rating potential of the undervalued UK equity market, with further Bank of England rate cuts among the catalysts, should consider putting to money to work with JPMorgan Claverhouse (JCH). This UK Equity Income sector mainstay boasts a 52-year track...

The FTSE 100 pushed higher on Friday, supported by some of the index's heavyweights trading higher, while geopolitical tensions remain in focus, as talks between Moscow and Kyiv got going. The FTSE 100 index was up 58.09 points, 0.7%, at 8,691.84. It is up around 1.5% so far this week and spiked as high as 8,696.99 points on Friday, its best level since late March. 'The FTSE 100 continued its...

As tariff fears ease elsewhere, the pharmaceutical sector now finds itself in the crosshairs thanks to an executive order trailed by president Donald Trump on 11 May. The administration apparently mandated a reduction in prescription drug prices of between a third and 80% to give the US 'most favoured nation' pricing. This put global pharma stocks on the back foot, although the vagueness of...

According to the latest Dividend Monitor report from Computershare, which looks after the share registers of 900 companies, total UK corporate dividend payments fell 4.6% or £700 million in the first quarter of this year to £14 billion. The decline was mainly due to lower one-off special dividends and a handful of large cuts from firms such as Burberry (BRBY) and Vodafone (VOD), which halved...

Pharma stocks fall on Trump drug price pledge Measures could cost NHS billions Markets rally on US-China truce On a day when 'risk-on' returned with a vengeance following a 90-day truce on tariffs between the US and China, the usually defensive healthcare sector was already on the back foot. The sector was further whacked by president Trump's proposed executive order on Sunday (11 May) to...

Stock prices in Europe were in the doldrums on Wednesday afternoon, as investors await the next US Federal Reserve decision. The FTSE 100 index traded down 25.85 points, 0.3%, at 8,571.57. It came into Wednesday on a 16-day winning streak, which is under threat of being snapped. The FTSE 250 lost 31.01 points, 0.2%, at 20,321.48, and the AIM All-Share is up 2.21 points, 0.3% at 712.55. The...

London's FTSE 100 remained in the green for its twelfth consecutive day on Tuesday, boosted by HSBC's first-quarter earnings and in spite of softened US economic data. The FTSE 100 index rose 46.12 points, 0.6%, at 8,463.46. The FTSE 250 advanced 76.41 points, 0.4%, at 19,809.72, and the AIM All-Share gained 5.56 points, 0.8%, at 681.31. The Cboe UK 100 rose 0.6% to 843.73, the Cboe UK 250...

Stock prices in London and Frankfurt were higher at Tuesday midday, as investors wait for US trade balance data, with US house price index data to follow. Asked whether the power cut there had triggered a fear that British infrastructure could be affected in the same way, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper told Sky News that the UK has a 'continued approach' to 'resilience' and 'security issues'....

The US markets have come full circle thanks to several U-turns from the Trump administration on tariffs and attacks on US Fed chair Jerome Powell. Over the past three trading sessions (22, 23 and 24 April) the tech-heavy Nasdaq index has soared over 8%, the S&P 500 by just over 6% and the (DJIA) Dow Jones Industrial Average Index by more than 5%. These gains are in stark contrast to Easter...

Stocks in London, Paris and Frankfurt were firmly in the green on Thursday morning, after the US announced it will keep 10% baseline tariffs but pause higher levies. Trump paused new tariffs on most countries but doubled down on China, raising tariffs on the world's second-largest economy to 125%. Meanwhile in the UK, Downing Street said that the UK will 'coolly and calmly' continue its...