Cambridge Index climbs 1.8%

The Cambridge Index advanced 1.8% or 416.9 points to close at 23,555.2, as Index heavyweights such as Johnson Matthey, DS Smith and Greene King posted weekly gains.

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Deutsche Bank reiterated its “Buy” rating on Johnson Matthey, up 4.3%. AVEVA Group, down 4.3%, announced that its annual revenues advanced to £215.8m from £201.5m in the last year. Its profit before tax surged to £46.9m from £29.4m in the prior year. The basic earnings per share jumped to 59.52p from 32.03p. The Board proposed a final dividend of 27p per share. Numis Securities reaffirmed its “Add” rating on the stock with a target price of 2180p. JPMorgan reissued its “Neutral” rating on the stock with a target price of 1950p.

Numis Securities reissued its “Add” rating on Vernalis, up 6.4%, with a target price of 29p. Brady, up 4.8%, in its AGM statement, announced that the trading performance in the first four months of the current year remained in line with the expectations. Its new value enablement team has signed contracts with China Construction Bank Investment Metdist and WSFO Limited for its solution to trade on Irish integrated single electricity market (I-SEM).

Horizon Discovery Group, up 4.6%, announced that it has acquired the worldwide rights of a new gene editing technology platform for research and therapeutic applications. It has made a small upfront payment along with additional downstream royalty payments to the third-party co-inventors against future product sales and sub-license deals.

Sepura, up 2.6%, in a joint statement with Hytera Communications, announced that following a sanction from the High Court of Justice in England and Wales for the scheme of arrangement, the recommended cash offer by Project Shortway Limited has been executed. Meanwhile, the court order has been delivered to the Registrar of Companies, after which the scheme came in effect and hence the entire share capital of company is now owned by Bidco.

1Spatial, down 6.9%, announced that its annual revenues rose 20.8% to £22.1m from £18.3m reported last year. However, its loss before tax widened considerably to £15.7m from £1.1m in the previous year. The basic loss per share for the year stood at 2.53p.

Cambridge Cognition Holdings, down 0.9%, announced that Dr Andrew Blackwell, Non-Executive Director, will step down from the board with effect from 1 July 2017. Sareum Holdings, down 2.8%, announced that Sierra Oncology will present two Trials in Progress posters to elaborate the phase-1 clinical designs of its Chk1 inhibitor, SRA737, at the American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting, to held in Chicago on June 5. Scientific Digital Imaging, down 14.7%, in its trading update for the year ended 30 April 2017, announced that it anticipates the profit before tax to be in line with management's expectations, with contribution from its latest acquisition, Astles Control Systems.

UK markets closed firmer in the previous week, following a significant fall in the Pound. On the macro front, Britain’s first quarter GDP rose less than market estimates, reflecting a slower economic growth ahead of the Brexit negotiations. The FTSE 100 index added 1.0% to settle at 7,547.6, while the FTSE AIM 100 index rose 1.7% to close at 4,928.1. Moreover, the FTSE techMARK 100 index gained 0.9% to end at 4,673.3.

US markets finished higher last week, after the US Federal Reserve minutes hinted a possible interest rate hike in June along with a plan to downsize its balance sheet gradually. Meanwhile, the US initial jobless claims advanced less than expected in the week ended 20 May. Also, the US GDP rose more than the initial estimates in the first quarter of 2017. The DJIA index rose 1.3% to end at 21,080.3, while the NASDAQ index climbed 2.1% to close at 6,210.2.

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