LONDON (Alliance News) - The resurgent London initial public offering market got another boost Friday as three companies priced their offerings.
The IPOs of Exova Group, Cambian Group and Polypipe Group mean 14 companies have now listed on the London main market so far in 2014, excluding Lenta's listing of Global Depository Receipts.
Lombard Medical Technology, meanwhile, has delayed its planned IPO on Nasdaq, blaming market conditions.
The Nasdaq Composite index had its worst day since 2011 Thursday. While most of the major sectors came under pressure, biotechnology stocks posted particularly steep losses on the day. The NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index plummeted by 5.6%, offsetting yesterday's 3.8% gain and setting a new two-month closing low.
Here is what you need to know at the UK market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: Down 0.8% at 6,589.24
FTSE 250: Down 1.2% at 15,954.33
AIM ALL-SHARE: Down 0.6% at 839.49
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Hang Seng:Down 0.6% at 23,063.42
Nikkei 225: Closed down 2.4% at 13,960.05
DJIA: Closed down 1.5% at 16,170.22
S&P 500: Closed down 2.1% at 1,833.08
Nasdaq: Closed down 3.1% at 4,054.106
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GBP-USD: Down at USD1.6778
EUR-USD: Up at USD1.3897
GOLD: Down at USD1,316.72 per ounce
OIL (Brent): Up at USD107.34 a barrel
(changes since end of previous GMT day)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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Friday's Key Economic Events still to come
(all times British Summer Time)
13:30 US Producer Price Index
14:55 US Reuters/Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index Preliminary
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Finance ministers and central bank governors from the world's leading industrialized economies are discussing an International Monetary Fund rescue package for Ukraine, on the sidelines of a broader meetings in Washington. The Group of Seven meeting Thursday addressed a proposed IMF package worth up to USD18 billion over two years to keep Ukraine afloat, and other international measures to help stabilize the county after months of unrest and Russia's seizure of the Crimea.
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Inflation in China was up 2.4% on year in March, the government said. That was in line with expectations and up from 2.0% in February. Among the individual components, food prices jumped 4.1% on year, while non-food prices added 1.5%. The data also showed that producer prices remained stuck in deflation, contracting 2.3% on year.
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The members of the Bank of Japan's monetary policy board said that Japan was seeing a moderate economic recovery which is likely to continue, minutes from the board's March 10 and 11 meeting revealed. The board members added that the country appears to finally be on the right track in its war with deflation, as inflation finally appears to be rising. They did not, however, wish to undertake any action ahead of the new sales tax that has recently been enacted.
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The UN Security Council unanimously approved a resolution authorizing a 12,000-strong UN peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic. The UN mission will take over peacekeeping operations in mid-September from the 2,000 French and 6,500 African forces currently on the ground battling to contain the protracted violence plaguing the former French colony.
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Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government on Friday approved a new energy policy that sees nuclear power as an important source of electricity, three years after the nation's worst atomic accident. The new policy nullifies a nuclear phase-out plan approved by the previous government following the disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, which was caused by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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HSBC RAISES LEGAL & GENERAL TO 'OVERWEIGHT' ('NEUTRAL')
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DEUTSCHE BANK INITIATES INVESTEC WITH 'BUY' - TARGET 555 PENCE
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BERENBERG RAISES SMITHS GROUP TO 'BUY' ('HOLD')
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BERENBERG CUTS WEIR GROUP TO 'HOLD' ('BUY')
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TRADERS: NOMURA CUTS FIRSTGROUP TO 'NEUTRAL' ('BUY')
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Investec will sell the professional finance and asset finance and leasing business of its Australian operations as well as the unit's deposit book to Bank of Queensland Ltd, a deal that will boost the South African bank's balance sheet.
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Jupiter Fund Management Assets Under Management Up To GBP32.2 Billion At End March, Net Mutual Fund Inflows GBP465 Million In 3-Months To End-March, Net Inflows GBP547M In Q1.
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COMPANIES - ALL-SHARE AND AIM
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XP Power said it is still expecting revenue to grow again in 2014, as it saw revenues rise 7% on the year in the first quarter and said order intake was robust. In a positive signal for profitability, the power control components manufacturer also said margins improved in the three months to the end of March as it increased its factory utilisation. It proposed a dividend of 12 pence for the first quarter, up from 11 pence last year.
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Xtract Resources said that it will not proceed with the acquisition of the Namakwa Uranium Deposit project in South Africa after due diligence showed that the prospect did not meet its investment criteria.
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Minds + Machines Group will participate in a minimum of three top-level domain private auctions April 22, bidding for the domains .garden, .property and .yoga. The company will launch its first batch of top level domains April 15, including the domains .fishing, .vodka, .rodeo, .cooking, .horse and .country. Trademark holders will be able to apply for sixty days, and any duplicate applications will be invited to an auction to determine the winner.
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Firestone Diamonds Agrees To Funding Package Of Approx USD140M To Build Main Treatment Plant. Firestone Diamonds New Funding Adds To Absa Debt Facility Announced Last Year.
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Software company Publishing Technology has won two new contracts for its 'advance' publishing software worth a combined value of around GBP3.0 million over three years.
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Lombard Medical Says IPO On NASDAQ delayed Due To Market Conditions.
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Games Workshop Says Traded In Line With Its Expectations In 4-Months To April 6
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Nature Group has won planning permission from the government of Gibraltar for the re-building of its waste oil reception facility. The rebuild is expected to take up to 12 months.
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Friday's Scheduled AGMs/EGMs
Amara Mining
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By Steve McGrath; steve.mcgrath@alliancenews.com; @stevemcgrath1
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