14.30 … Resource minnows decline
Shares in North River Resources PLC (LON:NRRP) dropped 10% as it said that it has completed drilling on the Namib project in Namibia but it is not expecting a lift in the amount of indicated mineral resources until more drilling has been undertaken.
The drill programme was expected to expand the resource at Namib and although a number of outstanding intersections support upside potential at the project, according to North River, overall results from the programme are "not expected to grow the indicated mineral resources at this stage, pending further drilling."
Another resources small cap, Amur Minerals Corp (LON:AMC) was also lower, down 9% as it said it is considering three options about how best to process the concentrate from the Kun Manie nickel, copper and sulphide project in the far east of Russia.
Amur has been developing the project for over a decade and has signed major agreements with partners and institutions such as Jinchuan Group, the Far East Investment & Export Agency, the Far East & Baikal Region Development Fund and IG Copper, this year to help support the development further.
11.30 … High street gets a festive boost
A pair of blue chip stores groups found some early festive cheer in late morning trade thanks to upbeat broker comment.
Marks & Spencer PLC (LON:MKS) gained 1% as BoA Merrill Lynch upgraded its rating for the clothing, food, and homewares retailer to ‘buy’ from ‘neutral’, with the broker citing confidence in the under pressure company's turnaround story and improving cash generation.
Meanwhile, ahead of first-half results due this Wednesday, Dixons Carphone (LON:DC.) edged up 0.4% as Merrill Lynch double upgraded its rating for the merged electrical goods and mobile phone and electronics retailer to ‘buy’ from ‘underperform’.
Among the FTSE 100 fallers, ITV PLC (LON:ITV) was the worst performer, dropping 3% as traders seemed to conclude that the proposed mop-up bid by Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox for pay-TV rival Sky PLC (LON:SKY) might not stimulate bid expectations for the commercial broadcaster.
Away from the top flight, e2v Technologies PLC (LON:E2C) soared 47% higher as the semiconductor and imaging technology company agreed to a £619.6mln takeover bid from American industrial components supplier Teledyne Technologies.
But on the downside, metals developer Ferrum Crescent PLC (LON:FCR) dropped 10.5% after unveiling a deeply-discounted share placing at 0.2p apiece to raise £550,000 to help finance work on its two main projects in South Africa and Spain.
09:00 ... Petards hoisted
Shares in Petards Group plc (LON:PTD) jumped 8% higher in early trading as the security and surveillance systems developer revealed it has won a contract to supply its EyeTrain CCTV systems to the train-building of German conglomerate Siemens AG.
The AIM-listed group said the order is worth around £2.0mln, with engineering work to start immediately and the first deliveries are expected by the end of the first quarter of 2017. The project is set to complete during 2018.
Petards Chairman Raschid Abdullah: “This provides us with yet another exciting rail project which further enhances our position in the rail industry and significantly strengthens the group's present order book for delivery in 2017 and 2018."
Contract news also gave a boost to microwave electronics firm Filtronic PLC (LON:FTC), shares in which gained 6.6% after it said its Broadband division has won a multi-year supply deal with an unnamed defence equipment maker.
The group, which makes products for telecommunications infrastructure clients, said the eight year agreement is expected to generate net revenue of around £13.0min over the term of the deal.
Filtronic chief executive Rob Smith, said: "This agreement is the first substantial defence related business win for Filtronic Broadband and with it we achieve a significant strategic milestone in diversifying our customer and market base.”
But on the downside, tobacco processing machinery maker Molins PLC (LON:MLIN) shed 7.5% as it issued a full-year profit warning as trading in the fourth quarter has been "materially" weaker than anticipated.
The company did say its order intake has been robust, and it will enter 2017 will a stronger order book year-on-year, however, a delay of orders expected in 2016 into 2017 and a lower-margin sales mix means its results for the year to the end of December will fall short of expectations.