Market Report
Servoca buys back 100k shares
Specialist outsourcing and recruitment solutions provider Servoca announced on Friday that on 18 January, it bought back 100,000 ordinary shares of 1p each in the capital of the group at a price of 22p per share.
JP Morgan bumps up target on Lloyds, positive on MBNA purchase
Analysts at JP Morgan raised their target price on shares of Lloyds, highlighting the lender´s "underappreciated" ability to generate capital while giving short shrift to some market watchers' concerns relating to management´s choice of balance between paying dividends and pursuing acquisitions, such as the purchase of MBNA.
Biome Technologies revenue falls slightly in 2016
Biome Technologies issued its pre-close trading statement for the financial year to 31 December 2016 on Friday, reporting group revenues of £4. 6m, slightly behind the 2015 revenues of £4. 9m.
London midday: Stocks flat ahead of Trump's presidential inauguration
London stocks were flat on Friday as traders assessed UK retail sales and China trade data while looking ahead to the inauguration of Donald Trump later in the day.
Europe midday: Investors cautious ahead of Trump inauguration
European stocks were little changed on Friday, as investors grew cautious ahead of Donald Trump's inauguration, with basic resources in the red following uninspiring Chinese growth figures.
HSBC to pay £4m in redress for overcharging customers in arrears
HSBC has voluntarily agreed to pay £4m in redress to customers who were overcharged when they fell into arrears after buying goods on credit.
Exane BNP downgrades Tesco, Sainsbury
Exane BNP Paribas downgraded Tesco and Sainsbury on Friday as it took a look at food retail, leaving it with no buys in the UK.
Friday broker round-up
Whitbread: Barclays upgrades to Equal Weight with target price of 4150p.
US pre-open: Stocks seen mixed ahead of Trump inauguration
US futures pointed to a mixed open on Wall Street as investors looked to Donald Trump’s inauguration as the country’s 45th president.
Asia report: Markets mixed as focus shifts from red dragon to orange man
Markets in Asia finished the week mixed, as investors looked towards the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump, and reacted to a relatively positive release of economic data from China.
Avacta expects licensing deal for therapeutics product in 2017, order book swells
Life science firm Avacta expects to have its first licensing deal for Affirmer, its biotherapeutics product, this year as its order book swelled.
MySale's half-year earnings double as customer base expands
Australian online retailer MySale Group’s half-year earnings doubled after a surge in revenues as its company base expanded.
Abzena signs licensing agreement for 'ThioBridge' technology
Life sciences group Abzena announced on Friday that it has signed a licensing agreement with an unnamed San Diego-based biopharmaceutical company for its site-specific ‘ThioBridge’ antibody drug conjugate linker technology.
Ten ways markets could surprise us this year - Credit Suisse
As Donald Trump prepares to pick up the keys to the White House and the Brexit debacles rumbles on, Credit Suisse highlighted 10 ways in which financial markets could surprise us this year, along with its 10 core views.
Gradual pace of interest rate increases prudent, Fed´s Yellen says
Letting the US economy run "too hot" would be risky and unwise, the head of the country´s central bank said, while reiterating her support for a gradual removal of the then current lax policy settings.
Elecosoft's pre-tax to be 'significantly' ahead of expectations after record sales
Shares surged in Elecosoft after the construction software company said that it expects pre-tax profit to be “significantly” ahead of expectations after achieving record sales during 2016 and benefiting from movements in currency exchange rates.
Heineken in talks with Kirin to buy Brazil business
Dutch brewer Heineken confirmed it is currently in discussions with Kirin Holdings about a potential acquisition of its Brazilian beer business.
BrainJuicer performs 'strongly' after two years of 'modest' growth
Marketing firm BrainJuicer said that it performed “strongly” during 2016 after two years of “modest” growth, as profit increased.
Argon bankruptcy still causing headaches for Ranger Direct
Ranger Direct updated the market on Friday, on the status of its platform agreement with the now-bankrupt online lender Argon.
IBM year-on-year revenues decline for 19th consecutive quarter
New York-based enterprise technology firm International Business Machines Corp. posted its nineteenth consecutive fall in revenues when it reported its fourth quarter earnings on Thursday, despite the fact it beat analyst estimates on both its top and bottom lines.