Four of the top five index heavyweights posted gains. Shares in Greene King ended 3.5% higher as the company reported that its food and retail like-for-like sales increased 4.1% and 3.7%, respectively, for the 36 weeks ended 06 January 2013. Despite the improvement of pub partners’ performance trends, the company does not expect conditions for the UK consumer to improve in 2013.
Johnson Matthey, up 3.0%, stated that it would look into the implications of Anglo American Platinum’s latest corporate restructuring on its relationship with it. Deutsche Bank recommended John Matthey as a “Buy”, while Credit Suisse and Bank of America Merrill Lynch rated the stock as “Outperform” and “Neutral”, respectively.
Positive broker recommendations also helped shares in Aveva Group notch up a 0.5% gain. However, ARM Holdings, down 1.0%, was subjected to rating cuts from Morgan Stanley, UBS and Investec, as investors voiced concerned about the company’s valuation level and a lack of positive news flow.
Bango surged 15.3% and emerged as the top gainer in the Cambridge Index. The company noted that it has built direct billing connections with more than 90 global mobile operators and has signed billing partnerships with industry leaders including Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft and MasterCard. The company also announced a Global Framework Agreement with Telefonica Digital, wherein the two companies would partner globally to create enhanced direct-to-bill payment for mobile app stores.
Tristel, up 4.9%, won a licence from the Health Department of the People’s Republic of China to import and sell the Tristel Wipes System. Kier Group, up 1.8%, successfully issued notes in the US private placement market and secured a loan issued under the UK’s Funding for Lending Scheme (FfLS).
Cyan Holdings, down 1.3%, announced the appointment of Walbrook PR as its financial PR advisor. CSR, down 3.0%, advised that it would issue its fourth quarter earnings results for the 13 weeks ended 28 December 2012 on 21 February 2013.
In the UK, the FTSE 100 index rose 0.5% to 6154.4, after positive US retail sales, housing starts and initial jobless claims, raised optimism that global economic growth is improving. However, gains were limited after a report indicated that UK business confidence declined in December. The FTSE techMARK 100 Index added 0.7% to 2614.6, while the FTSE AIM 100 Index fell 0.2% to 3301.1.
US markets finished higher during the week, following an upbeat US fourth quarter earnings season and better-than-expected economic data from the US and China. The Dow Jones Index rose 1.2% to 13649.7, while the Nasdaq Index added 0.3% to 3134.7.
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