Fitbug Holdings PLC (LON:FITB) was on its sickbed on Monday as stocks large and small extended losses.
The developer of wearable fitness monitoring gear announced wider losses and said it was switching focus to selling to businesses rather than consumers.
Fitbug said it had made a good start to the new financial year with first-quarter sales in corporate health products up on a year ago, but its shares still fell 22.2% to 0.53p.
Kodal Minerals PLC (LON:KOD) subsided 5.9% to 0.04p on news that David Steinepreis increased his stake in the Africa and Norway-focused miner to 23.7%.
The FTSE 100 Index fell 51 points to 6065 after the Shanghai Composite closed lower as fixed asset investment hit a worse-than-expected 10-year low.
Ipek Ozkardeskaya at London Capital Group said : “Chinese private investment is having a hard time picking up momentum, as private investors appear sceptical to buy into the economic stabilisation story.”
The pound took a fresh hit after the latest EU referendum polls suggested a tight gap between the ‘remain’ and ‘leave’ camps. Sterling fell to 1.4157 against the dollar in Asia.
Back among small-caps, ReNeuron Group Plc (LON:RENE) retreated 10.7% to 3.125p as it completed patient recruitment in the phase II clinical trial (PISCES II) of its CTX cell therapy candidate in patients with motor disability as a result of ischaemic stroke. It expects three-month follow-up data from the study to be available in the fourth quarter.
But Triad Group Plc (LON:TRD) ticked up 24.75% to 31.5p as the digital, engineering and energy consultancy posted higher annual revenue and profits.
Union Jack Oil PLC (LON:UJO) spurted 6.45% to 0.16p on news of its acquisition fropm Egdon Resources plc (LON:EGD) of an 8.33% economic interest in the PEDL182 block in Lincolnshire on the western margin on the Humber Basin containing the Broughton North prospect.
And Metals Exploration (LON:MTL) advanced 7.55% to 7.12p as it announced that the Runruno gold project in the Philippines had successfully poured its first gold as part of its ongoing "test running and debugging" of processing plant and related operations.
Back among larger stocks, satellite operator Inmarsat Plc (LON:ISAT) brightened 2.5% to 721p after it unveiled a strategic partnership with shipping broadband specialist SpeedCast International Ltd (ASX:SDA) to roll out Inmarsat’s Fleet Xpress service to about 2,000 vessels.
G4S PLC (LON:G4S) was another loser, down 5.5% to 177.1p, as it emerged that the gunman in the Orlando shootings had been an employee of the security group.
Market preview
The FTSE 100 looks set to fall on open amid fears over Britain’s imminent departure from the European Union.
The latest polls have the leave campaign maintaining its lead, which has sent world stock markets into something of a funk.
The index of UK blue-chip shares is expected to fall around 40 points on open at 6,075.76.
Asia, meanwhile, had a Brexit-induced bout of the wobble as investors totted up the potential economic carnage of a vote to exit the EU.
The pain was increased for the Nikkei 225, which lost more than 3% as the Yen strengthened, putting the kibosh on Japan’s exporters.
Reuters also identified a worrying longer-term trend among disgruntled international investors, who have withdrawn around US$42bn from cash equities in the last five months.
Elsewhere in Asia the mood was downbeat as China issued what could best be described as tepid economic data.
Growth in industrial production was unchanged at 6%, while consumer spending increased by around 10%.
Looking ahead, it is a big week for the central bankers.
It may also be a no-news week with the US Federal Reserve, Bank of England and Bank of Japan expected to keep their powder dry so far as interest rates are concerned.
Back in the UK, the major scheduled news for the week comes from the housebuilder Berkeley, rival Crest Nicholson and rail and bus company, Firstgroup.
*Brent Crude down 37 cents at US$50.17 a barrel.
*Gold US$3.80 higher at US$1,277 per ounce.
*Market Rumour: LafargeHolcim, the Franco-Swiss cement group created by a €41bn merger last year, is stepping up its post-deal disposal programme with planned asset sales in another nine countries.
City Pages
*Retail tycoon Mike Ashley has opened a new front in the war of words surrounding the fate of BHS, claiming there is still time to save thousands of jobs as he made a third approach for the collapsed department store chain once owned by rival billionaire Sir Philip Green – FT.
*Goldman Sachs’ most senior British Executive is refusing to appear before a parliamentary investigation into the collapse of BHS – Times.
*Britain is set to double the amount of electricity it imports from France under plans to construct a new £1.1bn subsea power cable – Times.