| The Markets Figures from the Office of National Statistics have shown that the UK economy shrank by less than previously thought between April and June. Figures provided earlier in the year suggested the economy contracted by 0.7% in the second quarter of 2012, although revised figures have reduced the shrinkage to 0.5%, primarily thanks to a better than initially expected performance from the construction sector. Meanwhile, chancellor Angela Merkel reiterated earlier comments that Germany would stand behind the Greek government as the country continues with its painful deficit reduction programme. Speaking at a press conference with Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras earlier on Friday, Merkel said the conditions of the the Greek bailout would remain unchanged, and is convinced that Greece will do everything in its power to meet its targets and solve the country's problems.  At the London close the Dow Jones was up by 73.25 points at 13,130.71 and the Nasdaq was up by 15.50 points at 3,068.90.
In London the FTSE 100 closed unchanged at 5,776; the FTSE 250 finished 17.48 points behind at 11,449.06; the FTSE All-Share slipped by 0.5 points to 3,002.62; and the FTSE AIM Index dropped by 3.10 points to 682.21.  Broker Notes Seymour Pierce continues to view Faroe Petroleum (FPM) as a "buy", with a 263p price target, despite disappointing news that the 6505/11-9 S Cooper well in the Norwegian Sea failed to flow following drill stem testing. The broker nevertheless recognises that Faroe's high impact drilling campaign continues with the North Uist well with results expected imminently, which should drive Faroe's share price. Seymour Pierce also expects some positive news from Faroe's Spaniards well in the North Sea, the results of which should be released in October. Faroe shares slipped 14p to 145.25p. Canaccord Genuity has maintained its "buy" stance and 360p price target on speciality chemicals business AZ Electronic Materials (AZEM), believing the strong performance of the group's share price is set to continue for some time. Canaccord added that it also expects improved understanding of the company within the investment community to benefit the shares. The business earlier this week unveiled EBITDA of 125.1 million dollars for the six months to June, 2% ahead of the broker's forecast thanks to the outperformance of its memory wafers, however the broker did comment it was a little cautious of sales in the third quarter. The shares inched 1.7p lower to 298.2p.  Panmure Gordon has reiterated its "buy" stance and upped its price target on The Restaurant Group (RTN) from 327p to 375p, noting the business continues to outperform its peer group on a unit-by-unit basis. The broker commented that with unemployment falling, marginal improvements in disposable income and robust store openings by the company, the firm's 2013 6.9 times EV/EBITDA rating is undemanding. Panmure Gordon believes the shares are nearer to being worth 7.5 times 2012 EV/EBITDA, which provides investors with the potential for 17% upside. The shares closed 6.2p higher at 328.2p. Investec Securities has served up a whole host of reasons why investors should be negative on banking giant HSBC Holdings (HSBA), and continues the view the shares as a "hold" with a 590p price target. The broker expects HSBC to miss second half earnings of 1.1 billion dollars by more than 6%, arguing that consensus forecasts are overinflated. Investec is also weary of Standard and Poor's recent rating outlook downgrade on the bank from "stable" to "negative" as well as increasing speculation that it will soon reach a settlement with US regulators over its accused regulatory breaches. HSBC shares inched 2.1p lower to 557p. Blue-Chips Support services business Capita (CPI) has acquired Reliance Secure Task Management, a criminal justice support services group, for 20 million pounds. The target provides forensic medical services, custody support and secure transport services to clients such as the Ministry of Justice and UK Border Agency. For the 11 months to March the group made an operating loss of 5.7 million pounds, however Capita expects that after realising significant synergy benefits, the business will return to profitability in 2013. CPI shares fell 3p to 723.5p. GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and NASDAQ listed Theravanc Inc announced the completion of the phase III programme of LAMA/LABA, a once-daily investigational medicine for the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. This study, alongside the recently completed pivotal UMEC/VI studies support GSK's plans to commence global regulatory submissions from the end of 2012. GSK shares closed 10p better off at 1,461p.  Mid-Caps Precision machinery manufacturer Renishaw (RSW) saw revenue climb by 15% to 331.9 million pounds for the year to June and pre-tax profits jump 6.9% to 86 million pounds as the business benefitted form a full year's trading from its UK acquisitions. The UK performed the strongest, revenues growing by 28% following the aforementioned acquisitions, followed by the US at 18% and the Middle East at 14%. All product lines reported respectable growth, apart from encoder products which experienced a slow down during the year. The machine tool and calibrations products lines meanwhile performed particularly well and there was there was significant interest in the firm's Equator product thanks to the increased exposure it gained. Renishaw shares slipped 11p to 1,529p. Berendsen (BRSN) shares climbed by 10.5p to 524.5p as the textile business reported a 21% surge in pre-tax profits to 39.6 million pounds for the six months to June, despite sales slipping by 2% to 488.2 million pounds. Management reported on a period with a strong focus on improving operational efficiency, with operating margins climbing by 0.9 percentage points to 13.3%. The firm's facility arm led profit growth, particularly its Scandinavian mat and washroom businesses, with increasing levels of operating leverage converting a 2% climb in sales to a 16% jump in operating profit. The current recessionary climate has led Stobart Group (STOB) to admit performance from its transport business for the six months to August will fall short of market expectations. The company explained that the restructuring of the chilled business alongside bad summer weather was reflected in retail sales, which has resulted in some losses for this operation. Stobart's biomass business meanwhile has received many new enquiries following the recent ROC banding announcement, and negotiations for new business has been accelerated, boding well for the second half of the year. Stobart shares closed 4.2p behind at 114.9p.  Small Caps, AIM and PLUS Surface coatings technology business Hardide (HDD) reported that the strong sales momentum announced earlier in year has continued into the second half, meaning revenues for the year to September are likely to come in 45% ahead of the previous year, smashing market expectations. Hardide continues to add new customers and develop new applications for existing ones, while its investment in business and market development across the oil and gas, flow control and aerospace engineering markets continues to advance. The shares surged 0.1875p to 0.7875p. The board of Xtract Energy (XTR) announced that the suspension of its shares, which occurred on 27th June pending clarification of the group's financial position - has been uplifted following a number of positive developments. Xtract has negotiated revised payment terms with creditor Noreco and has completed a review of the running costs of the company which will substantially reduce its annual overheads. Meanwhile Tiger Resources (TIR) has agreed to subscribe to 330,000 pounds of Xtract shares at 0.0435p. Tiger Resources will hold approximately 29.9% of the enlarged share capital of the company. Xtract shares plummeted 0.15p to 0.2575p while Tiger shares jumped by 0.25p to 2.125p.  Hellenic Carriers (HCL) shares jumped by 1.5p to 21p as the marine transportation services company announced that it has completed the sale of its Panamax dry bulk carrier, M/V Hellenic Sea, for 5.3 million dollars. Taking into account the vessel's net book value and expenses related to the sale, Hellenic will realised a net book value loss of 200,000 dollars. Social networking website builder SocialGO (SGO) admitted that revenues for the six months to June are expected to be materially below those reported for the same period in 2011, the reasons for which it did not disclose. It did add however that losses from operations would be lower than 2011 following the implementation of cost cutting exercises during the period. On a separate note the group added that it has entered into a distribution agreement with Catalis SE, a well regarded business in the media industry, with clients including Microsoft, Hewlett Packard, Nokia and Disney. Catalis will pay SocialGo a fee of 50,000 pounds per month to use its products and services, which will be sufficient to cover the current cost base of the SocialGO system. SocialGO shares dived 0.125p to 0.575p. TMT Investments* (TMT) has acquired a 3% stake in UsingMiles Inc, a business providing its members with advice on how to use their reward points efficiently, for 250,000 dollars. The UsingMiles service currently has over 63,000 members and manages of over billion miles, points and credits which a estimated asset value in excess of 200 million dollars. For the twelve months to December 2011 the business reported a pre-tax loss of 2.32 million dollars and held net assets of 268,000 dollars. TMT shares closed unchanged at 1.475p. * TMT Investments is a corporate client of Rivington Street Holdings, the ultimate owner of UK-Analyst. | 
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