DS Smith, up 2.2%, announced that it has installed a high specification GLUEJET® at the DS Smith Retail Marketing plant in Ely.
Kier Group, down 0.6%, announced that it has appointed Mohammed Saddiq as a Non-Executive Director, effective from 01 January 2024.
Oracle Power, unchanged at 0.04p, announced that its potential farm-in partner, Riversgold Ltd has received the assay results from a diamond drilling programme at the Northern Zone Intrusive Hosted Gold Project in Western Australia. RGL undertook a 4-hole diamond drill program for 1,379m (with orientated core) to specifically test the exploration model of +100m wide gold mineralisation. The drilling was completed on 21 August 2023 and all of the core was sent to ALS in Perth for core photographs, cutting and assaying. Assays results have now been received and interpreted and the work confirms the original mineralisation model, style, widths and grades.
Sareum Holdings, down 10.3%, in its AGM statement, announced that it has witnessed good progress in 2023 with its lead programme, SDC-1801, with a Phase 1a clinical trial underway in Australia. On the outlook front, the Board remains optimistic about the company’s pipeline of kinase inhibitors and would focus to advance SDC-1801 into further clinical development.
Quartix Technologies, down 4.8%, announced that it has completed a review of the acquisition of Konetik Deutschland GmbH (Konetik) and the potential for the Company's Evolve product line. Accordingly, the company stated that the Evolve product has been sold as an upgrade to a small number of existing customers, principally in the UK public sector, and revenue generated to date has been very limited. In addition, the Board considers that the Evolve product is not an effective tool for the acquisition of new vehicle tracking customers. As a result, it has made a non-cash impairment in the goodwill arising from the Konetik acquisition (£2.5m) in the Company's 2023 financial statements. Following this review the Board is committed to reducing the impact of this acquisition on the operating performance of the Company as soon as possible. However, a further consequence of the conclusion of the review is, that a substantial, one time, non-cash impairment in the goodwill arising from the Konetik acquisition (£2.5m) will need to be made in the Company's 2023 financial statements.
UK markets ended higher last week, after the Bank of England (BoE) kept its key interest rate steady. On the macro front, UK’s gross domestic product declined in October, amid elevated borrowing costs. Additionally, UK’s manufacturing production dropped more than expected in October, while the nation’s industrial production fell more than anticipated in the same month. Moreover, UK’s Rightmove house price index declined in December. Furthermore, UK’s trade deficit widened in October, while the nation’s manufacturing PMI eased in December. Separately, the BoE left its key interest rate unchanged at a 15-year high of 5.25%, as expected. The FTSE 100 index advanced 0.3% to settle at 7,576.4, while the FTSE AIM 100 index rose 2.6% to close at 3,567.8. Additionally, the FTSE techMARK 100 index gained 2.4% to end at 6,407.4.
US markets ended firmer in the previous week, as the US Federal Reserve (Fed) indicated at least three rate cuts in 2024. On the data front, the US retail sales climbed in November. On the other hand, the US consumer price inflation slowed in November, while the nation’s producer price index advanced less than anticipated in November. Additionally, the NY Empire State manufacturing index dropped in December, while the nation’s manufacturing PMI fell in December. Separately, the US Fed kept its key interest rates steady at 5.50% and signalled three rate cuts in 2024. The DJIA index rose 2.9% to end at 37,305.2, while the NASDAQ index gained 2.8% to close at 14,813.9.
