The Cambridge Index eased 2.8% or 280.1 points to 9,855.8, with eight out of the top ten index heavyweights ending in the red. Brokers, Nomura and JP Morgan Cazenove set a “Neutral” recommendation on the shares of ARM Holdings, down 3.6%, while Bank of America Merrill Lynch reiterated its “Buy” rating on the stock and set a target price of 642p. Johnson Matthey lost 4.2% as its US peer Cummins slashed its revenue outlook and after UBS downgraded the stock from “Buy” to “Neutral”. DS Smith lost 3.8% despite positive broker reviews.
Xaar jumped 8.3% and emerged as the top gainer in the Cambridge Index. Tristel, up 3.4%, announced that it has entered into a distribution deal with Basan Germany GmbH with a view to expanding its customer base across Europe. Tristel supplies sterile-packed disinfectant products for use in the clean rooms of pharmaceutical manufacturers, medical device manufacturers, life sciences and biotech firms. Other noticeable gainers included Bango, Sareum Holdings and Sepura, all up between 1.9% and 3.7%. Nomura recommended Greene King’s stock, up 1.7%, as “Neutral” but raised its target price on the stock to 585p from 533p. Aveva Group, up 1.2%, announced that it has not noticed any changes in the demand environment during the first-quarter. Brokers, Investec and Numis Securities continued to recommend that investors buy the stock, while Exane BNP Paribas assigned an “Underperform” rating and kept the target price unchanged at 1300p. Ubisense Group, up 1.7%, announced it has added Hyundai Kia to the long list of manufacturers that have adopted its unique RTLS solution.
Cyan Holdings declined 27.3% and emerged as the largest faller in the Cambridge Index. The company announced that it plans to raise £2.1 million in two share issues at 0.35p. The company stated that it is in an outstanding position to secure substantial revenues from a very large market, adding that the raised capital represents the cost to the company of securing that position. Sagentia Group eased 4.5%, ahead of its interim results for the six month period ended 30 June 2012, scheduled to be released on 18 July. Other prominent losers were Amino Technologies and CSR, down 4.3% and 5.3% respectively. Vernalis, down 1.6%, stated that it would announce its results for the six months ended 30 June 2012 on 1 August. HiWave Technologies, down 3.3%, announced the launch of a new platform for control panels and touch displays in aerospace applications.
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