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LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers on the main London indices midday Thursday.
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The US Federal Bank's decision not to taper its USD85 billion quantitative easing programme has led to stocks pushing higher globally. Industrial metals, up 3.6%, and mining companies, up 3.6%, are the biggest winners on the FTSE 350 sector indices, as traders invest in the stocks which were hit hard by tapering fears, as well as being influenced by the increasing price of gold in the aftermath of the Fed's decision. Gold currently trades at USD1367.21 per ounce.
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FTSE 100 - Winners
Randgold Resources, up 7.9%, Fresnillo, up 5.4%, and Anglo American, up 4.8%, are three of the biggest gainers on the blue-chip index following the jump in gold price in the aftermath of the FOMC's decision not to taper quantitative easing.
Rolls-Royce Holdings is up 1.7% after the company said it had won a USD1.5 billion order to provide German airline Lufthansa with Trent XWB engines to power 25 new Airbus A350 aircraft.
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FTSE 100 - Losers
Vodafone, down 1.1%, leads the FTSE 100 fallers. Chief Executive, Vittorio Colao, and Chief Financial Officer, Andrew Halford, among others, sold some large holdings Tuesday.
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FTSE 250 - Winners
African Barrick Gold is up 14% on the back of increased gold prices, as well as the news that Andrew Wray has been appointed as Chief Financial Officer, succeeding Kevin Jennings whose resignation was announced earlier this year. Wray has been instrumental in transitioning the gold producer to a public company. He also led the company-wide operational review which has identified over USD185 million of potential cost savings initiatives.
Polymetal International, up 10%, and Hochschild Mining, up 4.7%, have recorded big gains as the gold miners benefit from the increasing prices of gold.
Booker Group, up 3.2%. The food wholesaler said total sales, including cash-and-carry wholesaler Makro, were up 19% in the second quarter and 17% over the first half, and said plans to bring Booker and Makro together are on track. Investec has reiterated its Buy rating on the stock and increased its price target to 146 pence from 141p.
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AIM - Winners
Nyota Minerals, up 93%, is the biggest winner on AIM. The company has announced that Centamin PLC, the company's biggest shareholder, has requested a general meeting to consider removing Chief Executive Richard Chase, but said the notice didn't comply with rules governing such requests and therefore it has asked Centamin to re-submit it. The mineral exploration company didn't say why Centamin was requesting the removal of the CEO, but will update the market once its gets a request that meets the rules.
Central Rand Gold is up 34% as the mining company continues to gain following its first day of trading on AIM after moving from the London Stock Exchange's main market Wednesday and the news that it had received the first tranche of a USD7.25 million finance boost.
blur Group, up 12%. The company said that it had re-architected its community platform in the final phase of the roll-out of its blur 3.0 social commerce technology platform. Blur 3.0 is a technology platform that enables the buying and selling of business services through a global services exchange.
ASOS climbs 10% after reporting a 47% rise in retail sales in its final quarter of the year, and a 40% increase for the whole year. It's still pulling in new customers, with active customers up 42% on the year to 7.1 million customers by the end of the last financial tear. Its international appeal is also growing with retail sales up 73% in the EU, 59% in the US, and 26% in the rest of the world up 26%. Canaccord has raised its rating on AIM's biggest stock to Buy, and Canaccord and Numis raised their target prices.
Bullabulling Gold is up 8.6% after the company announced that the mineral resource estimate for the Bullabulling gold project has been updated, resulting in an increase in both tonnage and grade. The mining company said tests showed the site had potential for a large scale gold mining operation with an initial mine life of 12 years based on development of four open pits.
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AIM - Losers
Travelzest, down 21.4%. The travel group's share price is retracing after being one of the biggest gainers on AIM in recent days. The company had previously said in a statement that it was not aware of any reason for the up trend in its share price movement.
Verdes Management is down 12% as the company continues to fall from the highs set last week after trading in the stock restarted. Despite the continued decline, the Verdes share price is still well above its levels prior to its trading suspension.
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By James Kemp; jameskemp@alliancenews.com
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