DS Smith, down 1.9%, announced a €145m investment in its kraft paper mill in Viana, Portugal that would help in rebuilding the mill’s paper machine and reducing CO2 emissions.
Johnson Matthey, up 0.2%, announced that it has extended its partnership with SFC Energy to include a commitment from JM to build and supply proton exchange membrane (PEM) components to support SFC Energy’s growth in hydrogen fuel cells.
IQGeo Group, up 9.5%, announced that its IQGeo's OSPInsight fibre network management software has been chosen by the US tier 1 telecom operator to replace a competitor's solution. Additionally, the company announced that it has received the Carbon Neutral Organisation status for its 2022 carbon footprint assessment for the second consecutive year. Separately, the company announced that its AGM would be held on 16 May 2023 at the offices of DAC Beachcroft LLP, The Walbrook Building, 25 Walbrook, London EC4N 8AF.
Checkit, up 5.7%, today, in its audited preliminary results for the year ended 31 January 2023, announced that revenues rose to £10.30m from £8.40m recorded in the previous year. Loss before tax widened to £12.30m from £8.50m.
Dialight, up 1.4%, unveiled its newest fixture, the DC Crane Vigilant High Bay, designed to specifically meet the needs of overhead crane applications.
Bango, down 6.8%, announced that it has been awarded the King's Award for Enterprise for International Trade.
Xaar, down 6.6%, announced that it has invested around £1.2m in its printhead manufacturing facilities at Cambridge Research Park as the business continues to focus on improving its operational and energy efficiency.
Cambridge Cognition, down 1.0%, announced that it would release its preliminary results for the year ended 31 December 2022 on 3 May 2023.
Oracle Power, unchanged at 0.2p, announced that it has signed a co-operation agreement with PowerChina International Group Limited to jointly develop a 1 Gigawatt (GW) solar based independent power production plant at Oracle's Thar Block VI in the Sindh Province, Pakistan.
UK markets closed mostly higher last week. On macro front, UK’s consumer prices climbed more than expected in March, driven by higher food and energy prices, while the nation’s GfK consumer confidence rose to its highest level since February 2022 in April. Meanwhile, UK’s ILO unemployment rate advanced to its highest level since the second quarter of 2022 in February, while the nation’s retail sales dropped in March, amid high inflation and rising borrowing costs. The FTSE 100 index advanced 0.5% to settle at 7,914.1, while the FTSE techMARK 100 index gained 1.8% to end at 6,874.0. Meanwhile, the FTSE AIM 100 index fell 0.3% to close at 3,963.8.
US markets ended lower in the previous week, on renewed fears of recession. On the macro front, the US building permits unexpectedly fell in March, while the nation’s housing starts unexpectedly declined in the same month, amid low demand for multifamily housing projects. Also, the US existing home sales unexpectedly declined in March. Moreover, the US initial jobless claims jumped to its highest level since November 2021 in the week ended 14 April 2023, reflecting some softening in the labour market, while the nation’s Philadelphia Fed manufacturing unexpectedly fell in April. Meanwhile, the US manufacturing and services PMIs expanded in April. The DJIA index fell 0.2% to end at 33,809.0, while the NASDAQ index lost 0.4% to close at 12,072.5.
