ARM Holdings, down 7.3%, announced that it expects companies making ARM-based chips to tap about 10% to 20% of the notebook PC market by 2014 or 2015. Johnson Matthey, down 8.3%, announced that demand for platinum grew marginally, while demand for palladium dropped in 2011.
Kier Group, down 1.6%, announced that the group remains on track to meet its expectations for the current financial year and is performing well in the current market. CSR, down 9.6%, announced that its Chief Technology Officer, Dr. Steven D. Gray has been appointed to the CTO Forum’s executive board.
Cyan Holdings surged 32.4% and emerged as the top gainer in the Cambridge Index, after the company announced that it has received an order exceeding $1.0 million from a major metering customer in India. HiWave Technologies, up 5.9%, announced that it has launched a touch feedback platform for control panels for everyday household appliances.
Sepura rose 4.9%, after the company announced that it has acquired 3T Communications for an initial cash consideration of €8.0 million. Another prominent gainer was Bango, which rose 1.1%, while Scientific Digital Imaging remained unchanged at 9.8p.
PDX dropped 31.1% and emerged as the top faller in the Cambridge Index, after Procter & Gamble ended an agreement to use the former’s technology. As a result, PDX’s revenues for the year ending 30 September 2012 would be materially below its previous expectations. Blinkx, down 9.1%, announced that full year revenues rose 73.0% to $114.4 million but its profit before tax narrowed 69% to $1.9 million. Separately, the company announced that a blinkx app is now available on Sony Internet-enabled home entertainment devices.
Other noticeable losers were Sareum Holdings and DS Smith, which fell 9.1% and 8.4% respectively. Brady, down 2.9%, announced that Freepoint has selected Brady Energy’s EU and UK power scheduling solution to handle its power scheduling requirements in several European countries.
In the UK, the FTSE 100 index closed 5.5% lower, at 5,267.6, as concerns about Greece’s possible exit from the Eurozone and downbeat assessment of the British economy by the Bank of England weighed on investor sentiment. Euro region concerns rose after Moody’s downgraded 16 Spanish banks and Fitch lowered the credit rating of Greece. The FTSE techMARK 100 Index dropped 5.4% to 2,113.0, while the FTSE AIM 100 Index declined 7.0% to 3,134.0.
US markets declined, as worries about political uncertainty in Greece overshadowed better than expected US economic data. Adding to the negative sentiment, Facebook’s debut on Wall Street failed to live up to investors’ expectations. The Dow Jones Index fell 3.5% to 12,369.4, while the Nasdaq Index slipped 5.3% to 2,778.8.
View the report in full
_______________________________________