Cambridge Index rises 3.0%

The Cambridge Index advanced 3% or 459.3 points, to end at 15,944.5, as its top five index heavyweights saw prices increase.

ARM Holdings, up 2%, announced a definitive deal with Cadence Design Systems for the purchase of advanced display technology. Johnson Matthey, up 4.4%, was assigned an “Equal Weight” and a “Neutral”, respectively, by Morgan Stanley and JP Morgan Cazenove.

In its interim management statement DS Smith, up 5.9%, announced that its performance in the current year had commenced well and was in line with plans, while also stressing that its overall outlook continued to remain positive.

Greene King, up 1.4%, announced that like-for-like sales in its Retail business increased 4.6%. Deutsche Bank and Prime Markets assigned a “Buy” rating to the stock. AVEVA Group, up 4.6%, was assigned an “Overweight” rating by Morgan Stanley, while Numis Securities rated the stock as “Buy”.

Kier Group increased 9.3% over the week, and emerged as a top gainer in the Cambridge Index. On 5 September Kier announced that following the acquisition of May Gurney, they will expand their range of environmental services offered to local authorities and the private sector. 

Cyan Holdings, up 7.7%, announced the appointment of Stephen Newton as a Non Executive Director with immediate effect. Blinkx, up 3.2%, announced that Non Executive Director, Dr Michael R Lynch and Executive Director, Suranga Chandratillake have sold shares in the company. Sagentia Group advanced 4.9%. The company secured a £10 million, five year loan from Lloyds Bank.

1Spatial, a volatile and illiquid stock, fell 7.1% over the past week.  Amino Technologies, down 2.4%, announced that Peter Murphy, a Non-Executive Director, has exercised options over 30,000 shares at 49p per share, reducing his holding to 130,000 shares. Shares in CSR fell 0.8%. The company announced that Philips has selected CSR’s aptX(R) audio compression codec to ensure high-quality Bluetooth stereo audio in its wireless audio devices.

In the UK, the FTSE 100 index added 2.1% to 6,547.3, as upbeat readings of the manufacturing, construction and service PMIs in the UK lifted investors’ sentiment. Meanwhile, the Bank of England decided to hold its interest rate at the record low of 0.5%, and pledged to maintain loose monetary policy until the nation’s economy improves. The FTSE techMARK 100 Index rose 2.5%, to 2,952.8, while the FTSE AIM 100 Index gained 2.2%, to 3,497.

US markets advanced during the shortened trading week, as upbeat reading of ISM’s manufacturing PMI and a rise in the US construction spending, boosted investors’ optimism. However, uncertainty over the level of the Fed’s future bond purchases and possible military action in Syria kept investors on the edge. The DJIA index rose 0.8%, to close at 14,922.5 and the NASDAQ index added 2%, to settle at 3,660.



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