Goldman Sachs reiterated its “Buy” recommendation on ARM Holdings, up 0.7%, although it reduced its target price on the stock to 750p from 800p, while Jefferies International reiterated its “Hold” recommendation.
DS Smith, up 4.5%, announced that the completion of its deal to acquire the packaging division of Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget (SCA) took place on 30 June 2012. DS Smith confirmed that the consideration paid on completion stood at €1,582m (£1,280m) net of cash and external debt. The company also announced the appointment of Jonathan Nicholls as Senior Independent Director. Brokers, Goldman Sachs and Citigroup reiterated their “Buy” recommendations on the stock. However, Goldman Sachs sounded a note of caution by cutting its target price to 220p from 240p, while Citigroup retained its target price at 195p.
Cyan Holdings jumped 22.2% and emerged as the top gainer in the Cambridge Index. Elektron Technology, up 10.3%, announced the appointment of Mr. Richard Piper as a Non-Executive Director of the company. Brokers, Berenberg, Goldman Sachs and Numis recommended a “Buy” on Aveva Group’s stock, up 7.1%, while Panmure Gordon reiterated its advice to “Hold”.
Other notable gainers were CSR and Phytopharm, up 4.7% and 5.4% respectively. Deutsche Bank and Oriel Securities retained their “Buy” rating on the shares of Greene King, up 2.8%, while Bank of America Merrill Lynch recommended the stock as “Neutral” and edged down its target price to 560p from 567p.
Brady, up 1.8%, announced a contract win from one of the largest energy groups in Norway, Agder Energi, to manage its financial and physical power trading operations in the Nordic energy market.
HiWave Technologies (formerly NXT), up 3.4%, announced that it has entered into a global distribution agreement with RS Components, the trading brand of Electrocomponents Plc, a distributor of electronics and maintenance products.
PDX declined 12.5% and emerged as the largest faller in the Cambridge Index. Other fallers included Blinkx, Kier Group, Sagentia Group and Sareum Holdings, all down between 3.1% and 6.8%.
Dialight, down 1.5%, announced the acquisition of a five-year lease for a manufacturing facility in Penang, Malaysia through its wholly owned subsidiary, Dialight Europe. The company stated that the objective behind the deal was to strengthen its growth strategy in Asia, improve the pace of market accessibility and reduce inventory requirements.
In the UK, the FTSE 100 index closed 1.6% higher, at 5,662.6, helped by monetary easing by the UK authorities, China’s rate cut and the lasting positive sentiment generated from the EU summit. The FTSE techMARK 100 Index climbed 1.5% to 2,269.9, while the FTSE AIM 100 Index rose 3.5% to 3,146.1.
US markets closed mostly lower during the week as June nonfarm payrolls data disappointed investors. The Dow Jones Index fell 0.8% to 12,772.5, while the Nasdaq Index gained 0.1% to 2,937.3.
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