The stock market rally that carried UK share markets to multi-month highs has fizzled out in recent hours. This doesn’t mean that the new bull market has already run out of puff, though. It’s no surprise that investors and traders have taken a minute to pause for breath and/or book profits. Another surge in global stock markets could be just around the corner.
On the other hand the recent stock market rally could be as good as it gets, at least for the time being. Rising Covid-19 infection rates mean that further rounds of good news on the vaccine front could be needed to stop investor confidence falling off a cliff again.
I won’t be impatient if UK share prices fail to soar again in the near future, however. I’m confident that British stocks will recover all of the ground they’ve lost in 2020 and that the FTSE 100 et al will eventually hit fresh record highs. Past form shows that it’s a question of if rather than when. And as someone who invests for the long haul I’m happy to wait.
4 top UK shares on my radar
In the meantime I’m searching for UK shares that’ll soar during the new bull market, whenever that will be. Here’s four stocks I’m thinking of buying for my Stocks and Shares ISA today:
- Cinema chain Cineworld has been one of the major casualties of the Covid-19 crisis. Its high debt levels would discourage me from buying this UK share any time soon. But I reckon boutique cinema operator Everyman Media Group could soar in value as consumer spending levels improve. Equally important is that restrictive coronavirus social distancing measures have to ease as we move into 2021. This means I’ll be keeping a close eye on the latest vaccine news before investing.
- Resurgent consumer spending should bode well for GB Group, a provider of address verification services to online retailers. Revenues are likely to take off as the amount of parcel traffic increases. It already enjoyed a 10% increase in underlying revenues in the six months to September as e-commerce activity ballooned.
- Now International Consolidated Airlines Group isn’t without its share of risk. In fact, it has one of the weakest balance sheets in the aviation business and could find itself in peril if travel restrictions continue. However, if the fight against Covid-19 is indeed about to turn the corner, travel stocks like this will surge as bookings return. I like this particular UK share too because it’s a great play on the low-cost segment and the lucrative transatlantic market.
- Producers of cyclical raw materials like oil and base metals often enjoy the quickest earnings turnarounds as economic conditions improve. So I expect Hochschild Mining to ride this phenomenon as silver off-take rises from a variety of different industries. One final thing: I think having exposure to silver-related assets is a good idea in an era of low interest rates and rising inflation.