| From UK-Analyst.com: Friday 16th August 2013 IMPORTANT: Are your UK-Analyst emails being delayed? Add UK-Analyst@news.t1ps.com to your safe senders/contact list to help resolve the problem The Markets In a quiet day on the London markets the FTSE 100 index remained relatively flat after it plunged 100 points yesterday on fears that the US Fed could be "tapering" its quantitative easing programme sooner rather than later. These fears were fuelled as buoyant jobs figures in the States spooked investors on both sides of the Atlantic into thinking that the good news would be used as leverage by the Federal Reserve to cut back on its stimulus programme as early as next month. Trevor Williams, Senior Economist at Lloyds Commercial Bank did not feel the negative market reaction to the US jobs data was justified and commented, 'It is a little strange for investors to treat good news in this way. After all, economic recovery is what these stimulus programmes are for." Eurozone inflation remained unchanged at 1.6% in July, staying put for the second successive month, significantly below the European Central Bank's (ECB) 2% target. Consumer prices fell by 0.5% on the month in July with prices declining across most sectors except for services and energy costs which held up. In fact, the ECB expects inflation to temporarily fall in the coming months after price pressures recently fell further from the three-year lows which were hit in May. The data comes after it emerged earlier this week that the Eurozone had escaped an 18 month recession, with GDP growth of 0.3% recorded for the second quarter of the year. Howard Archer at IHS Global Insight said, "The Eurozone still faces a tough job developing recovery momentum.. We expect the upside for growth to remain limited for some considerable time to come by serious headwinds." ADVERTISEMENT Get free trading guides from Evil Knievil (How to successfully short stocks), Zak Mir (Top AIM market picks for 2013) and other top financial commentators by CLICKING HERE 
At the London close the Dow Jones was down by 8.82 points at 15,103.37 and the Nasdaq grew by 7.76 points to 3,083.99. In London the FTSE 100 was up by 16.65 points at 6,499.99 and the FTSE 250 was up by 141.57 points at 14,834.57. The FTSE All-Share grew by 12.44 points to 3,456.02 while the FTSE AIM Index was up by 0.79 points at 747.60.  Broker Notes Canaccord Genuity retained its "buy" recommendation on AZ Electronics (AZEM), but cut its target price by 8% to 389p. The broker updated its forecasts following AZ's recent first half update, resulting in modest EBITDA downgrades for 2013E and 2014E. However, Canaccord is still a believer in the company's business model and feels that the negative market reaction to "fundamentally solid" first half results was not justified. The shares sparked upwards by 14.3p to 317.8p. Cantor Fitzgerald maintained its "buy" stance on investment management firm Polar Capital Holdings (POLR) with a target price of 479p, giving potential upside of 13% from the current share price. The broker believes that the distribution team has been strengthened over recent years and feels that the group is well placed to benefit from economies of scale. Moreover, the firm feels that revenue growth and margin expansion should lead to attractive levels of cash generation in the short-medium term. The shares inched up by 1p to 423.5p. N+1 Singer stuck with its "sell" stance on Topps Tiles (TPT) with a target price of 30p. The broker feels that investors looking for exposure to an improving UK housing market would be better off taking profits at this stage after a recent rally which has seen the firm's share price increase by 34% over the last three months. Instead, N+1 recommends buying shares in Carpetright given its dominant UK position, strengthened management team, stronger ties to the housing market and highly visible self-help initiatives. The shares slipped by 5.25p to 79.25p. 
Blue-Chips Advertising empire WPP (WPP) announced that its JWT subsidiary has agreed to acquire a majority stake in Post Visual, a digital agency in South Korea. In 2012, Post Visual generated unaudited revenues of 4.8 billion Korean won (2.76 million pounds) and gross assets of KRW 3.4 billion Korean won (1.95 million pounds). WPP argues that the transaction - for which the financial details were not disclosed - was in line with its strategy of developing its networks in fast-growth and "important markets and sectors". Broker Liberum Capital reacted to the update by re-iterating its "buy" recommendation and increasing its target price from 1,180p to 1,300p. The shares were down by 4p to 1,164p. Mining giant Anglo American (AAL) announced the appointment of Hennie Faul as CEO of its Copper business following John MacKenzie's decision to leave the company. Mr Faul has 26 years of deep technical and operational experience and will be moving across from his current position as Anglo American's Head of Mining. The newly appointed CEO of the copper business will take up his post in October and will report to Duncan Wanblad, CEO of the Base Metals and Minerals business. The shares swelled by 52p to 1,547.5p. Mid Caps Software firm Anite (AIE) admitted that trading has been "relatively quiet" since the beginning of May, a trend which was blamed on the usual seasonality of the business. Divisionally, it was the firm's Handset Testing business which weighed most heavy on the company's overall performance as a low opening product backlog took its toll. Despite this slow period, Anite - who also run Network Testing and Travel businesses - insisted that it was on track to meet full year expectations. The shares dropped by 8.7p to 117p. Indian energy company Essar Energy (ESSR) produced a total of 3,114 million units of energy over the three months ended 30th June, up by 60% on the corresponding quarter in 2012. However, the firm conceded that margins at its Stanlow refinery here in the UK had fallen by more than a third as a result of weakening diesel and jet prices relative to gasoline. The update comes after Citigroup upgraded its "neutral" stance to a "buy" recommendation at the tail end of last month. The shares slipped by 0.3p to 135p. Engineering consultancy Atkins (ATK) has agreed to dispose of its Peter Brown US construction management firm to Moss Associates. Peter Brown was a loss-making entity, having generated an operating loss of 6.5 million pounds on revenues of 24.4 million pounds in the year ended March 31st. Management argued that the disposal of its business is "another step in the optimisation of its portfolio of businesses" as it looks to focus on growing its core engineering division. The shares gained 5p, finishing the day at 1,176p. Small Caps Manufacturer of surgical tools Surgical Innovations (SUN) claimed that it has had a "strong first six months of the year" and is on track to meet full year expectations. Revenues for the six months ended 30th June 2013 were 28% ahead of the same period last year at 3.88 million pounds while EBITDA came in 16% ahead of last year's performance. Within Surgical Innovation's Branded business, the firm's YelloPort+plus system continued to gain market share as a tool for laparoscopic surgical procedures. The shares were up by 0.75p at 5.375p. Eredene Capital (ERE) announced its intention to propose a tender offer for up to 32% of the company's issued shares at 17.2 pence per share totalling 20 million pounds. Under the terms of the tender offer, shareholders will be entitled to tender up to 32% of the shares they hold as at the record date of 11th October 2013. Separately, the firm said that the board re-affirmed its intention to keep an eye on operating costs, pledging to cut costs by 50% over the next year. The shares grew by 1.75p to 13.625p. Oil exploration group Range Resources (RRL) acknowledged the recent drop off in its share price but insisted that it knows of no reason for the weakness. In fact, Range is scaling up production in Trinidad, where output has increased by over 30% since April. Range also noted that it is on track to receive the proceeds of US$25 million (16 million pounds) from the sale of its Texas asset by the end of this month. Beaufort Securities currently has a "speculative buy" recommendation on the shares. The shares edged up by 0.07p to 2.375p. 
Iron ore exploration group Beowulf Mining (BEM) labelled its initial assay results from its drilling programme at Kallak South in northern Sweden as "most promising". Significant results include one inclined drill hole with a long intercept of 89.46 metres at approximately 32.1% iron, while a further 1.1 metre section in the same hole returned the highest ever recorded iron content for a drill core section from the Kallak South deposit to date of 55.9% iron. The shares jumped by 0.35p to 7.35p. Accountancy firm RSM Tenon (RSM) claimed that takeover talks with rival Baker Tilly were continuing but stressed that any deal would likely see shareholders' interests wiped out. According to the announcement "It is now likely that, as a consequence of the company's high debt level, if an offer is made by Baker Tilly, minimal value, if any, will be attributed to the issued share capital of the company." The shares plummeted by 1.1p to 0.85p. Silvermere Energy (SLME) is to press ahead with plans to implement a corporate voluntary arrangement to help pay off creditors as well as enforcing a clear change in investing policy. The former oil explorer - which is changing its name to Tern plc- revealed that it is now to invest principally, but not exclusively, in the information technology sector in Europe. The shares remained flat at 1.875p. * Silvermere Energy is a corporate client of a subsidiary of Rivington Street Holdings, the ultimate owner of UK-Analyst. | 
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