Berenberg Bank reiterated its “Hold” rating on Johnson Matthey, up 0.9%, with a target price of 3350p. Jefferies Group raised its target price on DS Smith, down 3.2%, to 440p from 420p and maintained its “Hold” rating.
Xaar, up 7.6%, announced in its trading update, that the Board expects revenue for second half to be same as £44.5m reported in the first half of 2016. The Board also anticipates that overall full year earnings will remain unchanged. The initial demand in ceramic tile printing business the new 2001 and 2001+ printheads was strong, however it expects lower ceramics sales in the second half of 2016 than previously anticipated. The company separately announced that it has invested in 3D Printing, led by Professor Neil Hopkinson. They will open a 3D Centre in Nottingham in January 2017, to deliver 3D printing services and equipment to OEMs, material suppliers and end users. The stock received positive ratings from brokers.
Credit Suisse raised its target price to 1900p from 1800p and maintained its “Outperform” rating on AVEVA Group PLC, up 5.2%. Ubisense Group, which remained unchanged at 41.5p, announced that it has appointed Richard Petti as the Chief Executive Officer with immediate effect. They also announced that they have entered into a partnership agreement with Frontier GeoTek Inc to offer new solutions that will enable Communications Service Providers to achieve better operational control and reduce costs.
Sphere Medical Holding, which remained flat at 9.6p, announced that it has launched its blood gas analyser device, Proxima 4, in Europe. The marketing of Proxima 4 will be handled by Sphere's own sales team in the UK, Germany, The Netherlands and Belgium while it has appointed Burke & Burke to market Proxima in Italy. The company further announced that it has signed an exclusive distribution agreement with Proyectos Hospitalarios Internacional S.A (Prhoinsa). Under the terms of the agreement, Prhoinsa will start marketing of Proxima in Q2 2017. Panmure Gordon reissued its “Buy” rating on the stock with a target price of 17p.
Tristel PLC, down 0.6%, in its AGM statement, announced that it expects a minimum pre-tax profit of £1.6m for the half year ending 31 December 2016, compared to £1.5m for the same period a year ago. FinnCap gave a target price of 150p.
UK markets ended higher in the previous week, led by gains in banking sector stocks. The Bank of England, keeping its key interest rate unchanged at 0.25%, warned that the nation’s economic growth might witness a slowdown in 2017 due to hold up of investment by firms. Inflation figures for November rose further than expected at 1.2%. The FTSE 100 index rose 0.8% to settle at 7,011.6, while the FTSE AIM 100 index added 0.9% to close at 3,965.5. The FTSE techMARK 100 index advanced 1.9% to finish at 4,291.7.
US markets ended mixed last week. The US Federal Reserve (Fed) raised its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points, while hinting at three interest rate hikes in 2017. Their consumer price index advanced in November, signalling that the Fed’s inflation target is nearing. However, the nation’s industrial production and capacity utilisation declined in November. The DJIA index added 0.4% to 19,843.4, while the NASDAQ index fell 0.1% to 5,437.2.
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