Archived article
Please note that tax, investment, pension and ISA rules can change and the information and any views contained in this article may now be inaccurate.
UK stocks made substantial gains in early trading on Friday after Chinese president Xi Jinping said the country wanted to work towards 'phase one' of a trade deal with the US.
At 0847, the benchmark FTSE 100 index was up 82.65 points, or 1.1%, at 7.321.20. Real estate portal Rightmove firmed 1.3% to 626.6p on announcing that chairman Scott Forbes would retire at the end of the year and be replaced by Andrew Fisher, the former chief of music recognition app Shazam.
Industrial thread company Coats dropped 11% to 66.22p as it delivered a profit warning pinned on a 'challenging' market crimping sales.
Online gambling software provider Playtech rose 0.1% to 411p, even as it announced that it expected its annual adjusted operating earnings to be 'a little below' current market consensus.
Playtech pinned the downgrade on tough trading conditions during September and October at its equities division TradeTech and said it was 'evaluating all options' for that business.
Developer and regeneration group St. Modwen Properties shed 0.4% to 455p on announcing that chief executive Mark Allan was leaving to take up the same role at Land Securities, which rose 0.9% to 912.8p.
Nationwide Building Society reported a 40% drop in first-half profit amid a rise in expenses for mis-sold insurance, higher business investment costs and a deterioration in its net interest margin. The company's core capital deferred shares were steady.
Investment management firm Brooks Macdonald reversed 1.9% to £17.90 after it launched a £30m share placing to fund its £39m cash and shares acquisition of Cornelian Asset Managers.
Specialist currency manager Record fell 6.7% to 37.7p, having booked a 22% fall in first-half profit dented by lower management and performance fees.
Mobile commerce firm Bango added 3.0% to 131.38p as it hit revenue and other targets for recent acquisition Audiens two months ahead of schedule.
Social video company Brave Bison sank 13% to 1.27p as it warned on profit, partly blaming the continued impact of adapting to Facebook's new publishing policies announced earlier this year.
Northern Ireland gold miner Galantas Gold tumbled 23% to 1.25p as it reported a big drop in revenue for the third quarter and said it will have to raise funds in the next six months.
South-East Asia focused oil and gas firm Coro Energy fell 6.7% to 2.1p after a well offshore Indonesia failed to discover commercial hydrocarbons.
Nutrition group Science in Sport declined 1.8% to 47.16p as it warned of a slight operating loss for the full year.
Security training services company Pennant International shed 0.8% to 87.26p on announcing that finance director Gary Barnes was standing down, with immediate effect.