“A pick-up in the UK economy and a rally in US tech shares on Wall Street last night helped to sustain the positive momentum on the markets,” says Russ Mould, Investment Director at AJ Bell.
“In line with the consensus estimate, UK GDP grew by 0.2% in January thanks to expansion in the services sector.
“While the figure is tiny, the fact it is growing at all is a positive. Investors want the UK’s recession status cast into the rear-view mirror so they can focus on how potential looser monetary policy could provide relief to consumers and businesses, and in turn feed into greater economic activity. Sadly, that could take time to play out.
“Oracle enjoyed a bumper day on the US market yesterday after its quarterly results were well-received and it teased a joint announcement with AI chips giant Nvidia, expected to follow next week. Nvidia’s shares also pressed ahead, rising more than 7% which itself should keep a lot of people happy. It continues to be the poster child for AI and that theme is still red hot as far as investors are concerned.”
Balfour Beatty
“Construction and engineering can be difficult industries in which to operate if the economy isn’t firing on all cylinders. Projects can be delayed or cut back, margins can come under pressure and the pipeline for new opportunities can shrink. Combining this situation with a general election year also presents further uncertainties. It’s against this backdrop that Balfour Beatty is managing to keep its head above water and better than expected results have put a rocket under the share price.
“Resilience is the name of the game and investors like what Balfour Beatty is saying. The company is confident that the broader push to invest in infrastructure projects is playing to its strengths. It also implies that no matter who wins at the next general election – Conservatives or Labour – both parties want to ensure the UK has clean and domestically-generated energy, which means plenty of work for Balfour Beatty to chase. Overseas opportunities also seem plentiful.”
Liontrust / Artemis
“Chatter that asset manager Liontrust has been sniffing around Artemis with regards to a potential takeover is an interesting development. Liontrust itself looked like a bid target after a collapse in its share price in recent years, or at the very least a target for some of its teams to be poached by rivals.
“The asset management industry continues to go through a period of consolidation as parties seek to combine strengths to achieve greater economies of scale as they face the headwinds of tighter regulation and more investors shifting from active to passive funds.
“Liontrust has a mixed track record of making acquisitions and its shareholders will certainly hope any further deals can help to revive the share price and put the company back on the right path.”
These articles are for information purposes only and are not a personal recommendation or advice.
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