Cambridge Index tumbles 6.8%

The Cambridge Index fell 1537.8 points or 6.8% to close at 20951.9, as nine of the top ten Index heavyweights posted weekly losses to their share prices.

DS Smith, down 7.5%, announced in its interim results for the six months ended 31 October 2018, that revenues advanced to £3.1b from £2.7b reported in the same period last year. Its profit before tax climbed to £162m from £128m, while basic earnings per share rose to 10.1p from 9.9p in the previous year. The Board declared an interim dividend of 5.2p per share. Peel Hunt restated its “Buy” rating on the stock.

Barclays reaffirmed its “Overweight” rating on AVEVA Group, down 5.9%.

Peel Hunt reissued its “Hold” rating on Abcam, down 7.5%.

Liberum Capital restated its “Buy” rating on Greene King, down 2.5%.

CyanConnode Holdings, up 20%, announced that it has entered into a licensing agreement worth $4m with Beijing Jingybeifang Instrument Co., to authorise the latter with the rights to use Cyanconnode’s reference designs to manufacture Advanced Metering Infrastructure.

Peel Hunt reiterated its “Hold” rating on Horizon Discovery Group, up 2.8%.

Amino Technologies, down 0.4%, announced in its trading update for the year ended 30 November 2018, that it anticipates full-year trading performance to be in line with market expectations, backed by a strong cash generation, which stood at $20.3m. Amino will publish its full-year results on 05 February 2019.

Liberum Capital reiterated its “Buy” rating on Frontier Developments, down 2.5%.

RhythmOne, down 4.1%, announced that it has appointed Grant Thornton UK LLP as Nominated Adviser and Whitman Howard as Broker to the company, effective immediately.

Gaming Realms, down 11.2%, announced that a special resolution was passed in its General Meeting to authorise the Directors for assigning ordinary shares of the company to Jackpotjoy, if the latter elects to convert partly or fully the £3.5m convertible loan note issued by the company.

Dialight, down 15.7%, announced in its trading update for the year ending 31 December 2018, that it has registered significant progress to be back on track, following the termination of its arrangements with a key contract manufacturing partner. Consequently, production at its facility was affected due to lack of timely procurement of raw materials, which ultimately had an influence on the November results. The full-year results will therefore be dependent upon the December performance. Peel Hunt trimmed its target price on the stock to 395p from 550p and maintained its “Hold” rating.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered its target price on Kier Group, down 24.8%, to 482p from 994p and maintained its “Neutral” rating.

UK markets ended in the red last week, weighed down by a decline in mining and banking sector stocks. The British manufacturing PMI advanced in November, while the construction sector activity surprisingly rose to a 4-month high in the same month. The UK services PMI unexpectedly fell to its lowest level in 28 months in November, while the house price index slid to a 6-year low in the same month. The FTSE 100 index declined 2.9% to settle at 6778.1, while the FTSE AIM 100 index fell 4.2% to close at 4652.3. Meanwhile, the FTSE techMARK 100 index lost 3.6% to end at 4376.2.

US markets ended lower in the previous week, led by losses in technology sector stocks. The US manufacturing PMI dropped in November, while the non-farm payrolls rose less than expected in the same month. The US trade deficit widened to a decade high level in October, whereas the construction spending unexpectedly eased for the third consecutive month in October. Meanwhile, the nation’s unemployment rate remained unchanged in November. The DJIA index fell 4.5% to end at 24389.0, while the NASDAQ index lost 4.9% to close at 6969.3.

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