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Majestic Wine delivers mixed full-year results, cash flows drop
Majestic Wine delivered a mixed set of results as it continued to progress on it turn-around plan but kept its dividend steady in a show of confidence about the future.
Number of UK smokers falls even as e-cigarettes gain in popularity
A report from the Office for National Statistics revealed a marked decrease in the number of adult smokers last year even as demand for e-cigarettes increased.
US close: Markets end in the red as dollar strengthens
Wall Street's main market gauges continued to pull back on Thursday, with a stronger dollar in the wake of Wednesday's Fed policy decision taking its toll on commodity-related stocks alongside renewed falls in the largest big-cap tech names, the so-called FANG contingent.
Europe close: Stocks end off lows despite hawkish central banks
European stocks ended off their worst levels of the session even as traders digested the latest policy surprises from central banks.
FX round-up: More hawkish BoE sees sterling shoved higher
Sterling got a firm shove higher thanks to a more-hawkish-than expected leaning by Bank of England's policy makers in holding the benchmark rate and QE unchanged.
London close: More hawkish BoE sends sterling higher and pushes FTSE down
London stocks were diving amid a cruel sea of tumbling UK equities indices after the Bank of England held its benchmark interest rate but surprised with a more hawkish stance than expected.
Friday preview: Loss of confidence in Tesco ahead of Q1 update
After busy week, Friday sees a quieter day on the UK business calendar, with a Tesco trading statement the highlight for investors, while a Bank of Japan announcement and eurozone inflation data will keep macro wonks interested as the fallout from UK and US central banks continues to be digested.
Fast-growing fast-fashion firm Quiz floats on AIM
Scottish 'fast fashion' retailer Quiz Group has announced retail guru Peter Cowgill as its new chairman ahead of a planned float on AIM, looking to capitalise on the popularity among investors for the likes of Asos and Boohoo.
Commodities: Gold, silver decline as UK, US central banks set hawkish tones
Precious metals gold and silver went for a run south on Thursday with each hitting multi-week lows as markets mulled more hawkish stances from the Bank of England and US Federal Reserve.
Trump signs Qatar weapons deal despite terrorism claims
Qatar has signed a deal to buy $12bn worth of F15 fighter jets from the US, despite President Donald Trump’s claims that the state has been funding terrorist organisations.
Next making a mistake in strategy, Credit Suisse says
Analysts at Credit Suisse downgraded Next shares from 'neutral' to 'underperform' on the heels of soft pricing across Europe.
US open: Stronger dollar takes its toll
Wall Street's main market gauges continued to pull back, with a stronger dollar in the wake of Wednesday's Fed policy decision taking its toll on commodity-related stocks alongside renewed falls in the largest big-cap tech names, the so-called FANG contingent.
Echo Energy sells Egypt business
Echo Energy issued an update to the market on Thursday, saying that further to its announcement on 18 April, and consistent with its strategy to build a Latin America exploration business, it could confirm that it had now sold its legacy Egyptian business.
Starcom signs supply and support deal with Shiptek
Wireless remote tracking and monitoring solutions developer Starcom announced on Thursday that that it had entered into a three year supply and support agreement with Shiptek Solutions Corporation - a Philippine software company - for the supply of its 'Tetis R' container tracking system.
FTSE 250 movers: Petrofac gushes higher on upgrade; Restaurant Group goes ex-div
London's FTSE 250 was down 2. 4% to 19,495. 21 after the Bank of England stood pat on rates as expected but with a 5-3 split in the voting.
Bushveld subsidiary acquires minority interest in Uis tin project
Vanadium producing company Bushveld Minerals, announced on Thursday that, further to the announcement it made on 4 April, all the conditions precedent to the agreement entered into to by its wholly owned subsidiary Greenhills Resources to acquire a 49. 5% interest in Dawnmin Africa Investments from a consortium of Namibian shareholders had now been fulfilled, and accordingly the acquisition had completed.
Amazon interested in buying chat platform Slack - reports
US ecommerce giant Amazon is said to be interested in acquiring workplace messenger service Slack for over $9bn.
CyanConnode receives $5m order from Bangladesh
Narrowband radio mesh network provider CyanConnode announced on Thursday that the $5. 4m purchase order from an unnamed specialist in energy management systems for a smart metering contract in Bangladesh, initially announced on 9 February, had now been increased to $9. 3m.
FTSE 100 movers: Persimmon goes ex-div; retailers take a hit
London's FTSE 100 was down 1% to 7,400. 03 in afternoon trade as investors digested the latest rate announcement from the Bank of England.
Diurnal doses first patient in US Infacort study
Specialty pharmaceutical company Diurnal Group announced on Thursday that it had successfully dosed the first patient in a food matrix compatibility study for its ‘Infacort’ product in healthy volunteers.