Shares of ARM Holdings rose by 4.2% after the Daily Mail suggested that Intel may make a bid for the company at 1,200p per share. Barclays Capital recommended the stock as “Overweight”, while increasing their target price from 750p to 820p. RBC Capital Markets and Exane BNP Paribas reiterated their ratings at “Outperform” and “Neutral” respectively.
Johnson Matthey rose 3.1%, as Credit Suisse upgraded the company’s stock from “Neutral” to “Outperform”, citing the low valuation. The company also received an upbeat broker comment from Goldman Sachs, which recommended the stock as a “Buy”.
Domino Printing Sciences rallied 8.6% and emerged as the top gainer in the Cambridge Index. Elektron Technology, up 6.3%, announced that it has sold the business and assets of its ASL brand to WIKA Instruments for approximately €0.6 million. In addition, it notified the market that its Chairman, Keith Daley, has acquired 1.3 million shares at a price of 16.5p per share. Aveva Group rose 0.2% despite Seymour Pierce advising investors to sell the stock, while Greene King, up 1.2%, was the subject of a favourable broker review.
Brady, up 0.5%, announced two new contract wins from an existing client to support its global cotton business and metals warehousing activities. In addition, it has won a contract from a new client to implement an end-to-end coal trading solution.
PDX, unchanged at 3.1p, announced that it has achieved some improvements in the terms of its property leasing arrangements, and that it is likely to locate to more appropriate, lower cost premises in twelve months' time.
CSR, down 4.1%, revealed that 100,479,558 shares were offered in its Tender Offer, out of which, 49,080,388 shares were accepted for purchase at a price of 360p per share, representing approximately 22.9% of the issued share capital.
In the UK, the FTSE 100 index closed 0.8% higher, at 5,866.8, as Eurozone Finance Ministers finally agreed on disbursing the next €43.7b aid tranche to Greece. Markets also received a boost from third-quarter UK GDP data which, contrary to expectations, was left unrevised. The FTSE techMARK 100 Index gained 1.6% to 2,451.8, while the FTSE AIM 100 Index fell 0.3% to 3,106.3.
US markets ended higher during the week, amid upbeat US consumer confidence and unemployment claims data. However, negative comments on the US fiscal cliff by President Obama and House Speaker Boehner kept the gains in check. The Dow Jones Index rose 0.1% to 13,025.6, while the Nasdaq Index climbed 1.5% to 3,010.2.
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