| From UK-Analyst.com: Thursday 8th 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 Chinese trade data for July was better than expected as significant growth in both imports and exports defied the ongoing slowing trend within the nation's economy. Chinese exports rose by 5.1% in July compared with a year earlier while imports gained 10.9%. The data contrasted June's data which showed exports had fallen 3.1% and imports had dropped by 0.7% on the previous year. The figures from the Chinese Customs Administration revealed that imports of crude oil and iron ore rebounded from long-term lows to record highs as the nation sought to rebuild depleted stocks. The figures should provide investors in the Chinese economy some comfort as the data represents a welcome break from recent indications of slowing growth in the world's second largest economy. Shen Jianguang, economist at Mizuho Securities Asia commented, "I would call it normalisation, rather than recovery, of China's exports and imports. China is able to reach an annual growth rate of 5 percent in trade, but the official 8 percent target is a bit hard to hit." Despite some encouraging economic signs in the Eurozone of late, the European Central Bank's Survey of Professional Forecasters have reduced its Eurozone growth forecasts for 2013 and 2014. The forecasting body now expects a larger than originally anticipated economic contraction of 0.6% during 2013 while it slightly lowered its 2014 growth estimate from a 0.9% expansion to 1% growth. The forecasters argued that the change in outlook was due to factors such as falling commodity prices, weak labour markets and smaller contributions to inflation from indirect taxes. A statement from the ECB also outlined other contributory factors and read "Moreover, disappointing data from key emerging economies such as China and Brazil imply a lowering in the expected contribution of net trade to growth in the near term. The slight downward revisions for 2014 and 2015 are also mainly attributed to lower domestic demand." ADVERTISEMENT 
Fracking - fear or the future? Click here to download your complimentary report now. Losses can exceed deposits At the London close the Dow Jones was down by 20.83 points at 15,449.84 and the Nasdaq grew by 9.70 points to 3,128.39. In London the FTSE 100 was up by 18.47 points at 6,529.68 and the FTSE 250 grew by 116.16 points to 15,086.21 The FTSE All-Share increased by 12.28 points to 3,477.00 while the FTSE AIM Index was up by 5.90 points to 733.76.  Broker Notes Cantor Fitzgerald stuck with its "buy" recommendation on Clean Air Power (CAP) with a target price of 19p. The broker feels that the US could potentially become a significant market for the firm given the current differential between natural gas and diesel prices which could result in a very rapid take up of CAP's technology. Cantor believes that Clean Air Power has an attractive technology with significant growth potential and feels that the company is well positioned to take advantage of the growing, gas powered vehicle market worldwide. The shares remained flat at 9.5p. Canaccord Genuity stuck with its "buy" recommendation on miner Rio Tinto (RIO) with a target price of 3,940p. The broker acknowledges that the full recovery at the Bingham Canyon mine looks slower than it had originally envisaged. However, the impact of this on Canaccord's estimates is likely to be small and, despite today's uninspiring results, the 2013 recovery looks to be progressing faster than the broker is currently modelling for. The shares climbed by 63p to 3,016p. Westhouse Research downgraded its "neutral" stance to "sell" on oil exploration group Gulf Keystone Petroleum (GKP). The broker says that the possibility of a takeover remains the main driver of value for the shares but does not see such a transaction in the near term. Moreover, In Westhouse's view, the political uncertainty in Iraq could impact operations going forward and the current share price does not provide any upside to compensate for the risk associated with it. The shares inched up by 1.25p to 170.25p. 
Blue-Chips Insurance group Aviva (AV.) posted a 5% increase in operating profits to 1.008 billion pounds for the first 6 months of the year as the value of new business acquired over the period increased by 17% to 401 million pounds. The firm attributed the improvement to a pick-up in performance from within the UK, French and Asian markets which combined to offset poor performances in the struggling economies of Italy and Spain. The update comes a day after Citigroup retained its "buy" recommendation and 432p target price. The shares swelled by 28.2p to 399p. Engineer Amec (AMEC) warned that revenues could miss full year targets as sales over the first 6 months of 2013 were hit by reduced demand from the mining sector. Lower commodity prices have meant that many mining firms have been forced to delay new projects and, in turn, the demand for mining equipment - which Amec specialise in - has nosedived. Despite these struggles, Amec increased its interim dividend by 15% to 13.5 pence per share. Separately, the group revealed that it has been awarded a "multi-million dollar" engineering, procurement and construction contract by Sempra U.S. Gas & Power to design and construct its Copper Mountain Solar 3 project near Las Vegas. The shares were up by 4p to 1,079p. Fund management group Schroders (SDR) announced a 25% increase in pre-tax profits to 221.7 million pounds for the 6 months ended 30th June as it grew its assets under management by 21% to 235.7 billion pounds. Schroders said that it rode the wave of buoyant financial markets over the first 5 months of the year and, as a result of its success, has decided to increase its interim dividend by 23% to 16p per share. In response to the update, Shore Capital stuck with its "hold" recommendation on the group. The shares dived by 133p to 2,368p. Mid Caps Bookie Ladbrokes (LAD) revealed that operating profits were down by 19.8% at 85.7 million pounds for the first 6 months of the year. The bookmaker partly attributed this downfall to the lack of a major football tournament over the summer as punters stay away from shops. The fall was also blamed on a slowdown in the use of popular gaming machines that had been a growth driver in recent years. Looking ahead, the firm admits that the outlook is challenging and does not expect to achieve like-for-like growth for the remainder of the year. The shares fell by 8.1p to 199.6p. Paper and packaging specialists Mondi (MNDI) announced a rise in group revenues to 3.342 billion euros (2.88 billion pounds) from 2.819 billion euros (2.42 billion pounds) over the 6 months ended 30th June, while operating profit grew by 35% to 366 million euros (315.1 million pounds). Management explained that the improvement was driven by the impact of acquisitions which were made towards the end of last year. Mondi went on to warn that it expects new industry capacity in the uncoated fine paper industry to affect the supply-demand balance in the short term. The shares were up by 31.5p to 1,017p. Property advisor Savills (SVS) announced a 13% increase in group revenues to 399 million pounds for the first half of 2013 while pre-tax profits grew by 25% to 21.4 million pounds. Savills pointed to reduced losses in Europe after re-investment in and restructuring of its European operations and buoyant property markets in the UK and Asia for its impressive performance over the period. On the back of the update, Numis retained its "add" recommendation on the group, increasing its target price from 645p to 700p. The shares increased by 10p to 640p. Small Caps Supplier of CCTV 21st Century Technology (C21) announced a 17% fall in revenues to 5.8 million pounds for the 6 months ended 30th June, while pre-tax profits slipped from 0.7 million pounds to 0.5 million pounds. The group went on to warn that it is now experiencing a significantly lower than expected order pipeline for H2 2013.and that revenues from one of its largest customers is likely to be 70% lower in the second half of the year compared to the first 6 months. As a result, the group's full year financial results will almost certainly below current market expectations. The shares plummeted by 4.625p to 6.125p. Travel group Travelzest (TVZ) confirmed that its former CEO Jonathan Carroll has initiated legal action in Canada against the company and its trading subsidiaries. The litigation is in relation to last month's termination of Carroll's contract after former director and shareholder Mark Molyneaux called for him to stand down. In response, the current management team at Travelzest argued that Mr Carroll has "no foundation or merit" in his action and confirmed that it has instructed its lawyers to contest the action. The shares dropped by 0.25p to 1.25p. . Kentz Corporation (KENZ) announced that its Engineering, Procurement, and Construction business has agreed three long-term framework agreements with "blue-chip international companies." Two of the contracts are services agreements with an oil company while the third agreement relates to a services contract for a Southern African Power Utility. The financial details of the new contracts were not released to the market. The shares grew by 16.8p to 449.8p. 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 
Application has been made for shares in diagnostic tool manufacturer Akers Bioscience (AKR) to begin trading on the NASDAQ exchange in the US. Simultaneous with the proposed NASDAQ listing, the company is also seeking to raise additional capital of around $15 million (9.64 million pounds) as it looks to accelerate growth. The company was keen to stress that it was not certain that the application will be accepted but pledged to update the market on any progress to this end. The shares were up by 0.025p to 1.25p. Recruitment firm Matchtech (MTEC) claimed that trading in the four months ended 31st July was "encouraging" and the recruiter now expects profit for the year to 31st July to come in slightly ahead of its previous expectations. The firm said it benefitted from strong demand for contract staff within the engineering sector, partly fuelled by the increased investment in UK infrastructure programmes at present. The update prompted broker Numis to retain its "buy" recommendation on the company, increasing its target price from 425p to 510p. The shares gained 10p, finishing the day at 425p. Sports nutrition group Provexis (PXS) confirmed that it has completed the demerger of its Science in Sport division. Provexis shareholders will receive one new share in Science in Sport for every 100 ordinary Provexis shares currently owned. Provexis announced the demerger plan last month and argued that the market did not fully appreciate the value of the business. Upon flotation, this new business will have a market value of around 10.9 million pounds. The shares slid by 0.18p to 1.25p. | 
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