The Cambridge Index fell 0.6% or 69.0 points to 12,781.0, led by losses in three of the top five index heavyweights. Shares of chip maker, ARM Holdings closed 1.5% lower, despite a report in The Sunday Times that the company would benefit from the Chancellor’s introduction of big breaks for technology and pharmaceutical businesses from the next year. As a result, the tax rate is expected to drop to as low as 15% within four years, from 28% last year. In further encouraging news for ARM, the company announced the development of a DS-5 embedded software development toolkit for Altera SoC devices, in a joint collaboration with Altera. Credit Suisse recommended the stock as “Neutral”, while Barclays Capital reiterated its “Overweight” rating. Greene King, up 2.4%, announced that some of its senior executives sold part of their shareholdings in the company at 620.07p per share. Panmure Gordon, Numis and Jefferies International put a “Hold” rating on the stock. DS Smith fell 2.9%, despite a positive review by Oriel Securities.
Scientific Digital Imaging jumped 70% and emerged as the top gainer in the Cambridge Index. First half revenues increased 12.1% to £3.7m and operating profit stood at £43,000, compared to an operating loss of £1.6m recorded in the same period of the previous year. Xaar, up 9.3%, revealed that demand had been strong during the second half of the year, with sales in the fourth quarter surpassing the board’s expectations. Similarly, revenues are expected to be in the range of £83m-£85m, compared to £68.7m achieved in the previous year. PDX, up 6.4%, announced the appointment of Hagen Gehringer as CEO. Ubisense Group and Amino Technologies, up 0.5% and 3.1% respectively, announced contract wins. Sareum Holdings ended 3.8% higher despite its Chairman’s expectations of no collaboration or licensing deals before the end of the year.
Bango down, 5.5%, announced that its first integration on Google Play is now live and noted that Telstra subscribers can now use Google Play to purchase digital content. Domino Printing Sciences, down 4.1%, announced that revenues fell 0.6% to £312.1m and pre-tax profits declined 6.0% to £53.9m. Dialight, down 3.0%, announced that it has finished shipment of the initial phase of a major multi phase project worth approximately $1m for the Puerto Rico Aqueduct & Sewer Authority. CSR, down 0.4%, announced an agreement with HP to use its latest IPS Universal Print Interpreter software. Vernalis eased 1.1% despite revealing positive results for its Parkinson’s Disease treatment study.
In the UK, the FTSE 100 index closed 0.1% higher, at 5,921.8, after the US Federal Reserve expanded its asset purchase program to stimulate nation’s economy. However, gains were capped following a downgrade of the UK economic outlook by S&P. The FTSE techMARK 100 Index slid 0.3% to 2,463.9, while the FTSE AIM 100 Index rose 0.2% to 3,075.8.
US markets finished lower during the week. The Dow Jones Index fell 0.2% to 13,135.0, while the Nasdaq Index fell 0.2% to 2,971.3.