Cambridge Index declines 2.9%

The Cambridge Index eased 724 points or 2.9% to close at 24,042.2, as the top ten Index heavyweights posted weekly losses to their share prices.

Johnson Matthey, down 4.1%, announced that it has appointed Jason Apter as the company’s Sector Chief Executive of Health.

AVEVA Group announced that it has successfully completed the combination with the Schneider Electric Group.

Abcam, down 3.4%, announced that its interim revenues increased to £112.5m, while its profit before tax rose to £32.8m for the period. Peel Hunt restated its “Hold” rating on the stock with a target price of 1100p.

Dialight, up 6%, announced that its annual revenues dropped to £181m, while reported profit before tax of £3m for the period. Peel Hunt increased its target price on the stock to 600p from 565p and maintained its “Hold” rating.

Science Group, down 0.5%, announced that its annual revenues increased to £40.8m, while its profit before tax rose to £3.9m. Numis Securities lifted its target price on the stock to 260p from 240p and maintained a “Buy” rating.

Quixant, down 2.5%, announced that Nick Jarmany and Jon Jayal have been appointed as the Vice Chairman and the new Chief Executive Officer, respectively. The company also announced that Cresten Preddy, Chief Financial Officer, was due to retire and that Guy Millward would take over from 1 October 2018.

Sareum Holdings, down 5.1%, announced the expansion of its clinical development programme for its trial drug, SRA737, with an average enrolment target of 200 patients across ten cancer indications.

Horizon Discovery Group, down 10.7%, announced that Darrin Disley has stepped down from all his roles and duties of the company.

Vernalis, down 20.6%, announced that it has recorded a rise in the total number of prescriptions of Tuzistra XR amid current cough cold season. Meanwhile, the company anticipates performance of Tuzistra XR to be lower than the original estimated annual guidance of 105,000-115,000 prescriptions.

UK markets ended lower in the previous week, after the British manufacturing sector activity declined to its lowest level in eight months in February, and the nation’s consumer credit dropped for the first time in five years for January. Mortgage approvals in the UK rebounded from a four-year low in January. The FTSE 100 index dropped 2.4% to settle at 7,069.9, while the FTSE AIM 100 index fell 2.2% to close at 5,293.2. The FTSE techMARK 100 index lost 0.6% to end at 4,382.4.

US markets ended the week down, after the US new home sales dropped to a five-month low in January, while its durable goods orders reduced more-than-expected in the same month. The US Federal Reserve Chairman, Jerome Powell, signalled faster pace of interest rates hikes than initially anticipated in 2018. The nation’s consumer confidence index surged to a seventeen-year high, while its manufacturing sector activity jumped to an almost fourteen-year high in February. The DJIA index eased 3% to end at 24,538.1, while the NASDAQ index fell 1.1% to close at 7,257.9.

View the report in full



Looking for something specific?