Shares of ARM Holdings gained 2.5%, as the company announced that it has acquired the entire share capital of Apical Limited, for a cash consideration of $350m. Barclays Capital and Credit Suisse reiterated positive ratings on the stock with target prices of 1250p and 1175p. However Liberum Capital reconfirmed its “Sell” rating on the stock with a target price of 650p.
Johnson Matthey, up 0.2%, forecasted platinum to remain in a global deficit this year. Panmure Gordon set a ‘Hold’ rating on the shares of AVEVA, up 1.1%, with a price target of 1864p on 23 May.
Blinkx surged 21.2% despite posting higher losses in its full year results. Revenues fell by 22% to $166.7m from $214.9m, with loss before tax widening to $94.3m from $24.8m in the previous year. The company indicated that it anticipates the revenues to stabilise in FY2017, mainly due to strong growth in core revenues.
Sareum Holdings, up 8.5%, announced the appointment of Dr Stephen Parker as the Non-Executive Chairman of the company. Shares of the company picked up as it announced it was poised for phase I clinical trials of its CHK1 inhibitor drug.
Shares of pub operator, Greene King PLC, rose 5.3% to 878.5p. Canaccord Genuity reiterated its buy rating on the shares and set a target price of 1100p.
Cyan Holdings fell 9.7% as the shares came under selling pressure. Shares of Vernalis lost 5.9% amid looming supply issues with a drug they planned to distribute. The company announced that Suir Pharma Ltd, its sole supplier of the finished dosage form of its Moxatag antibiotic, has been placed into provisional liquidation. Canaccord Genuity restated Vernalis shares as ‘Buy’ with its price target of 84p.
DS Smith, down 1%, announced that it has opened a new plant in the region of Hamburg, Germany. 1Spatial, down 4.9%, announced the acquisition of Enables IT Group in a deal approximately £2.08m. Under the terms of the offer, Enables IT shareholders will be entitled to receive 1.13 1Spatial shares for each scheme share.
UK markets closed higher in the last week amid gains in homebuilders. Bank of England policymaker Gertjan Vlieghe stated that the central bank might need to provide additional stimulus if nation’s economic growth remained weak after June referendum. The UK’s consumer price index declined in April due to cheaper air fares, while retail sales rose more than expected. The FTSE 100 index rose 0.3% to 6,156.3, while the FTSE AIM 100 Index advanced 0.6% to finish at 3,406.8. The FTSE techMARK 100 Index gained 0.7% to 3,752.8.
US markets ended with mixed results in the past week, as the US consumer price index showing higher growth than expected in April. Meanwhile, the US Federal Reserves latest minutes indicated that the central bank could lift interest rates in June, if data continued to improve. The DJIA index declined 0.2% to 17,500.9, while the NASDAQ Index advanced 1.1% to 4,769.6.