Shares of ARM Holdings declined 3.5% despite AMD announcing that it will license ARM’s TrustZone security technology to boost its chip security. Meanwhile, Societe Generale kept its recommendation on the stock at “Sell”, even as it raised the target price to 370p. HSBC retained its rating on Johnson Matthey, down 4.3%, at “Overweight”, while Numis downgraded the stock to “Add” from “Buy”, and raised the target price to 2664p from 2660p. Aveva Group, down 2.7%, revealed that its Deputy Chairman, Philip Aiken, has purchased 1,000 ordinary shares at a price of 1643.0p.
Sagentia Group rallied 4.9% to 75.5p and emerged as the top gainer in the Cambridge Index. Other prominent gainers were Vernalis, Dialight, Abcam and Netcall, all up between 1.7% and 3.9%. Kier Group, up 0.6%, announced that Blue3, a consortium consisting of Kier and Calderpeel Carden Croft has bagged a contract worth £50 million from Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service to design, rebuild and maintain 11 fire stations in Staffordshire.
Brady, flat at 82.0p, announced that its EU and UK power scheduling solution has won an order from Freepoint to handle its power scheduling requirements in many European nations.
Sareum Holdings fell 17.6% to 0.7p and emerged as the largest faller in the Cambridge Index. Regarding its update on Tamil Nadu Electricity Board order, Cyan Holdings, down 14.6%, announced that all 500 pilot units would commence operations by the first week in July 2012, and would be monitored for 60 days, before receiving any final order. Executive Chairman, John Cronin, expressed confidence of a positive outcome.
HiWave Technologies, down 10.9%, announced the resignation of its CFO and added that its 9mm exciters HiHX09C005-8 have been adopted by US based Key Ingredient for its touch screen Recipe Reader. Blinkx, down 10.3%, announced that it has entered into partnership with Digital Syphon, a provider of high-quality audio and video analytics technologies.
Another noticeable loser was PDX, down 10.1%. Amino Technologies announced that its first half performance has been in line with expectations, adding that it expected to post a small profit in the first half.
Tristel, down 1.7%, announced the termination of its supply arrangement with Medichem International Limited and creation of a new brand identity, “Anistel”. The company stated that it expects full year revenues and pre-tax profit for the period ended 30 June 2012 of about £10.7 million and £0.65 million respectively. Additionally, the company revealed positive results from its study of the evaluation of disinfection of flexible nasendoscopes using Tristel wipes.
In the UK, the FTSE 100 index closed 0.8% higher, at 5,478.8, after UK officials unveiled their plans to provide cheap long-term funding to banks, aimed at boosting lending to consumers and businesses. The FTSE techMARK 100 Index fell 0.9% to 2,174.7, while the FTSE AIM 100 Index retreated 1.7% to 3,036.4.
US markets rose during the week, amid optimism that the US Federal Reserve would inject more stimulus to boost the country’s economic growth after a slew of weak economic data. The Dow Jones Index rose 1.7% to 12,767.2, while the Nasdaq Index added 0.5% to 2,872.8.
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