Liberum Capital reissued its “Buy” rating on Johnson Matthey, down 4.4%, with a target price of 4400p.
DS Smith, down 2.8%, announced that it has received an approval for its proposed acquisition of Europac from the Board of the Spanish Securities Market Commission.
Barclays reiterated its "Overweight" rating on AVEVA Group, up 7.3%.
Greene King, up 7.3%, announced that its interim revenues rose to £1.05b, while its profit before tax advanced to £127.7m.
RhythmOne, up 24.1%, announced that it is providing an expanded set of Smart TV Impression Units through its revolutionary advanced TV and video solution, YuMe, with the motive to fulfil the growing market needs. Separately, the company announced a partnership deal with Placed, to enhance the accessibility of consumers by providing new measurement solution.
Peel Hunt reaffirmed its “Buy” rating on Frontier Developments, up 9.4%.
CyanConnode Holdings, up 2.6%, announced that The Independent Power Producers Association of India (IPPAI) Power Awards 2018 has appreciated its innovative Omnimesh platform in the one of its categories.
Science Group, up 0.5%, announced that its Finance Director, Ms Rebecca Archer, would be on maternity leave from January 2019 and is likely to resume her duties in Q3 2019. The company also specified that an existing member of the group will be taking up her responsibilities until she returns.
Sareum Holdings, unchanged at 0.7p, announced that Sierra Oncology, Sareum’s licence-holding subsidiary for SRE737, presented its latest study results at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Conference on Tumor Immunology and Immunotherapy. The data revealed that SRA737 demonstrated “clear anti-tumour activity” in a pre-clinical model of a small cell lung cancer.
Kier Group, down 33.4%, announced its plans to raise £264m through a rights issue with a view to reduce the net debt and strengthen its strong position in its growing markets for long term. The company announced that the UK Listing Authority has approved and issued its Prospectus.
UK markets closed higher last week, supported by a weaker Pound. British mortgage approvals climbed to their highest level in 9 months in October, while the house price index advanced in the same month. The UK’s consumer credit grew at its slowest pace since May 2015 in October, whereas the consumer confidence index slid to an 11-month low level in November. UK Prime Minister Theresa May hinted at the possibility of a no-deal Brexit, if the drafted deal would fall short of the desired number of votes in the Parliament. The FTSE 100 index advanced 0.4% to settle at 6980.2, while the FTSE AIM 100 index rose 1.1% to close at 4857.7. Meanwhile, the FTSE techMARK 100 index gained 1.3% to end at 4540.4.
US markets ended on a stronger footing in the previous week, led by gains in retail and technology sector stocks. US annualised gross domestic product rose in Q3 2018, while mortgage applications rebounded in the week ended 23 November 2018. The US advance goods trade deficit widened in October, however new home sales dipped more than expected in the same month. The US consumer confidence index eased in November, while pending home sales declined to a 4-year low level in October. Minutes of the Federal Reserve’s November meeting indicated that an interest rate hike is likely at its December meeting. The DJIA index rose 5.2% to end at 25538.5, while the NASDAQ index gained 5.6% to close at 7330.5.