| The Markets The UK Index of Services rose by 1.1% month-on-month in July, from a decline of 1.5% in June, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics. The results was generally expected as it had a weak comparable, due to the extra bank holiday of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee in June. Additionally, it is anticipated that the sale of Olympics tickets will help drive August figures. Meanwhile, France has announced plans for a new 75% income tax for those earning over 1 million euros (0.8 million pounds) per year, as it looks to cope with rising debt. Unsurprisingly, the announcement was not well received by those who will be affected, with a number of them threatening to leave the country it the new tax is imposed. At the London close the Dow Jones was down by 89.62 points at 13,396.35 and the Nasdaq was down by 22.21 points at 2,799.39. In London the FTSE 100 fell by 37.35 points to 5,742.07; the FTSE 250 finished 20.30 points behind at 11,734.10; the FTSE All-Share lost 16.97 points to 2,998.86; and the FTSE AIM Index climbed by 1.17 points to 704.54. 
Broker Notes Panmure Gordon reiterated its "buy" recommendation for Marston's (MARS) with a 130p target price. The pub chain reported like-for-like sales growth in its managed pubs for the 42 weeks ended 31st July and the broker expects this trend to have continued for the remainder of the year. Panmure noted that the firm will complete 25 new pub restaurants during the current financial year, with plans of opening between 20 and 25 per year from now on. Trading on a prospective EV/EBITDAR multiple of 7.9 times and yielding a dividend of 6%, the broker views Marston's as one of the cheapest pub stocks available. The shares inched down by 0.6p to 114.2p.  Singer Capital maintained its "buy" rating for Cello Group (CLL) with an increased target price of 56p, from 48p. The broker said that the marketing company has seen a recovery in demand for its consumer business, following a difficult first half, with record bookings in August. Meanwhile, Singer noted that the company's health division remained strong. Forecasts for full year earnings put the shares on a prospective multiple of 6.7 times for 2012, falling to 6.2 times in 2013. Shares in Cello were unchanged at 41.5p. Seymour Pierce retained its "buy" stance on Acta SPA (ACTA) with a 16p target price. The broker believes that the hydrogen full cell developer is making large strides towards the commercialisation of its technology. Seymour Pierce added that the firm has a growing order book of 78,000 euros (62,256 pounds) and a pipeline of 300,000 euros (239,444 pounds). The broker also noted that while the group suffered from testing delays it has compensated for this through the introduction of cost cutting measures were flat at 4.25p. Blue-Chips BP (BP.) will to sell its stake in purified terephthalic acid production assets in Malaysia for a cash consideration of 230 million dollars (141.5 million pounds) to Reliance Global Holdings. The oil and gas giant noted that Reliance was already the plant's largest customer. Meanwhile, the firm agreed to pay 0.21 million dollars (0.13 million pounds) in settlement for oil spill violations at its facility in Maryland. The shares slipped by 4.1p to 436.5p. 
As it prepares for the flotation of its Direct Line car insurance business, The Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) announced that the price range has been set at between 160p and 195p per share. The bank is expected to offer between 375 and 500 million shares, accounting for between 25% and 33% of the business. The final price and subsequent admission to the London Stock Exchange is due to be announced on 11th October 2012. RBS shares edged up by 0.4p to 257p. Mid-Caps Shares in Electrocomponents (ECM) tumbled by 19.4p to 200.3p after the firm warned that, if the current difficult market conditions persist, its full year pre-tax profits would fall short of consensus forecasts. The electronic parts supplier expects to report pre-tax profits of 40 million pounds for the year ending 30th September 2012, down 32.7% on 2011's comparable period, on flat revenues. The firm saw sales decline by 6% in North America and also noted a shift in the sales mix towards lower-margin technologies, such as the Raspberry Pi mini-computer. 
The Raspberry Pi 
RPC Group (RPC) reported that its first half revenues are likely to be lower than in the prior comparable period, but it expects operating profits to rise as it benefited from better sales of higher margin products, such as coffee capsules. The plastic packaging manufacturer also noted that it had achieved significant cost savings from its acquisition of Superfos, which helped compensate for a weakening euro and rising raw material costs. The shares slid by 8.8p to 426.1p. Hydrocarbons explorer Ophir Energy (OPHR) announced that it has resumed its drilling programme at the Jodari Field in offshore Tanzania, in joint venture with BG Group (BG.). The firm initially plans to begin drilling of the Jodari South-1 and Jodari North-1 wells and will also re-enter Jodari-1, which had previously struck a deposit of 4.5 trillion cubic feet of gas. The firm noted that the have discovered a total of between 13.5 and 21 tcf of gas across all its sites in Tanzania. The shares swelled by 17.5p to 608p. Small Caps, AIM and PLUS Watermark Global (WET) shares surged by 0.05p to 0.15p after it reported a pre-tax profit of 2.72 million pounds for the six months ended 30th June 2012, swinging from a loss of 0.62 million pounds in the first half of 2011. The company's results included the disposal of its South Africa focused water management subsidiary Western Utilities Corporation for 4.5 million pounds. With no other operations, the firm is now classified as an investment company with cash and investments totaling 5 million pounds, or 0.33p per share. As a result of low traded volumes ICB Financial Group Holdings (ICB) has decided to delist from the AIM market, claiming the market no longer serves a useful purpose. The Africa and Asia focused bank feels that its current share price does not fairly value its geographical presence and believes that the costs of remaining listed and time spent ensuring compliance with AIM rules could be better spent elsewhere. The firm noted that it has not established an alternative platform for shareholders to trade following the delisting. The shares crashed by 8.5p to 25p. Manx Financial Group (MFX) reported an adjusted pre-tax profit of 92,000 pounds for the six months ended 30th June up from a loss of 120 million pounds in 2011's comparable period, on revenue growth of 14.4% to 3.6 million pounds. The banking and finance group said that it benefited from the reluctance of major banks to lend, as it allowed it to provide funding to better quality counter parties at good rates. The firm added that it will wind down its Conister Card business, due to poor levels of demand in the UK prepaid card market, but noted that it will retain the MasterCard licence. Manx shares jumped by 0.5p to 4.125p. 
Covert intelligence gatherer Datong (DTE) warned that order volumes from America have fallen short of expectations in September, traditionally one of its key trading periods. As a result, the group now expects revenues for the year to be around 9.3 million pounds, 20.5% than in 2011, and profits to be significantly lower than in the prior year. In order to compensate, the company has begun implementing a number of cost cutting programmes. The shares sank by 7p to 30p. Savile Group (SAVG) reduced its loss before tax for the year ended 30th June to 0.09 million pounds, from 0.69 million pounds in 2011, on revenue growth of 2.8% to 7.4 million pounds. The management consultant said that it suffered from contract delays towards the end of the year. The firm also liquidated restructuring advisory firm 7 Days, which it acquired in October 2010, at a cost of 1.14 million pounds, while purchasing Career Management Services. Shares in Savile plunged by 2p to 10p. Ovoca Gold (OVG) reported good results from tests performed at its Stakhanovskiy project in Russia, including 2.5 metres containing 281.4 grams per tonne, 4 metres at 41.28g/t and 1.5 metres at 45.76g/t. The miner noted that it processed 16,586 tonnes of rock from the start of the calendar year to the end of August and began drilling at the Berezitoviy site, with 288 metres of a planned 4,020 metres completed. The shares advanced by 0.875p to 11.5p. | 
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