Jefferies Group reissued its “Hold” rating on DS Smith, up 4.2%, with a target price of 440p. Investec reconfirmed its “Buy” rating on Greene King, down 0.6%, with a target price of 882p.
Abcam, up 6.8%, in its half yearly trading update, announced that it expects overall revenues to grow 10% on a constant currency basis and 30.4% on a reported basis. Numis Securities reissued its “Add” rating on the stock with a target price of 870p. Panmure Gordon restated its “Sell” rating on the stock with a target price of 640p. Peel Hunt reaffirmed its “Buy” rating on Kier Group, up 1.7%, with a target price of 1600p.
Horizon Discovery Group, up 7.3%, announced that it has attained the right to use CRISPR edited cell lines in GMP biomanufacturing through extension of existing ERS Genomics license. Frontier Developments, up 6.8%, in its trading update on 16 January, announced that it anticipates to report revenues of approximately £18.1m and EBITDA of approximately £5.7m for the six months ended 30 November 2016.
Marshall Motor Holdings, up 6.7%, in its annual trading statement, announced that it expects the Group’s financial performance for the period to be in line with the expectations. Sareum Holdings, up 2.9%, announced that it has successfully realised a milestone payment of $2m, under the Chk1 licence agreement between its co-investment partner, the CRT Pioneer Fund and Sierra Oncology Inc.
Xaar, up 1.7%, announced that it has entered into a partnership agreement with Xerox Corporation for development of bulk piezoelectric inkjet printheads. N+1 Singer restated its “Corporate” rating on the stock. Credit Suisse reissued its “Outperform” rating on AVEVA Group, up 1.0%, with a target price of 1900p. Barclays reaffirmed its “Equal Weight” rating on the stock with a target price of 1450p.
RhythmOne, which remained flat at 39p, in its Q3 trading update, announced that its financial performance remained in line with the expectations. Beaufort Securities reiterated its “Speculative Buy” rating on CyanConnode Holdings, which remained unchanged at 0.2p, with a target price of 0.6p.
1Spatial, which remained unchanged at 1.8p, announced that Marcus Yeoman, a Non-Executive Director, has resigned from the Board with immediate effect. Bango, down 1.2%, in its annual trading update, announced that its revenues rose around twofold to £2.6m from £1.3m in the previous year. FinnCap restated its “Corporate” rating on Amino Technologies, down 2.1%, with a target price of 200p.
UK markets ended higher in the prior week, led by gains in commodity sector stocks. On the data front, the nation’s manufacturing and industrial production rose more than expected in November. Moreover, the NIESR estimated GDP growth met market expectations for the October-December period. Meanwhile, the Bank of England’s Governor stated that the bank might upgrade growth forecast for the nation. The FTSE 100 jumped 1.8% to end at 7,337.8, while the FTSE AIM 100 index gained 1.1% to close at 4,192.2. However, the FTSE techMARK 100 index fell 0.3% to settle at 4,362.1.
US markets closed mixed last week. On the macro front, the weekly initial jobless claims and the advance retail sales for December fell short of market estimates. Meanwhile, the first press conference of US President-elect, Donald Trump, provided an unclear outlook regarding his fiscal and tax policies. The DJIA index lost 0.4% to end at 19,885.7, while the NASDAQ index rose 1% to 5,574.1.
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