Wednesday's Stock Market Report from UK-Analyst: featuring Barclays, Next, Petra Diamonds and Utilitywise

From UK-Analyst.com: Wednesday 30th October 2013 The Markets It has been confirmed that Spain has finally exited recession after its economy recorded 0.1% growth over the July-September quarter - according to figures from national statistics agency INE. The figures, which concur with predictions made last week by the Bank of Spain, are thought to have been boosted a higher level of imports. combined with a bumper holiday period as European holiday makers avoided northern Africa and the Middle East. However, economists refuse to read too much into the figures with Ben May, Economist at Capital Economics, arguing, "Domestic demand is still contracting... it's hard to see a strong and sustained recovery." Over in the US, financial markets hit new highs yesterday as investors continue to feel that the latest Federal Reserve meeting will sanction a continuation of economic stimulus measures. The Dow Jones was up by 111 points at 15,680 at the close of play yesterday, beating the all-time high which was set last month. Meanwhile the Nasdaq increased by 12 points to 3,952, slightly shy of its record high which was set back in March 2000. Art Hogan of Lazard Capital Markets commented, "The Fed has been pretty clear about making decisions dependant on data and the data the Fed has received since the last meeting have certainly not been upbeat." At the London close the Dow Jones was down by 21.29 points at 15,659.06 and the Nasdaq was up by 1.13 points at 3,392.88. In London the FTSE 100 closed up by 2.97 points at 6,777.70 and the FTSE 250 was up by 47.45 points at 15,582.96. The FTSE All-Share was up by 3.21 points at 3,609.71 while the FTSE AIM Index inched up by 4.23 points to 809.52. Broker Notes Barclays Capital has upgraded its "equal weight"stance to an "overweight"recommendation on airline operator easyJet (EZJ), increasing its target price by a chunky 60% to 1,530p. The investment bank feels that easyJet is in the best position to gain further revenue share from weaker carriers in the sector. Moreover, Barclays Capital feels that the constrained capacity growth in Europe will especially benefit easyJet, along with rival Ryanair. The shares jumped by 10p to 1,321p. Societe General has changed its "hold"recommendation to a "buy"stance on oil giant BP (BP.), increasing its target price from 490p to 530p. The investment bank is encouraged with BP's increased dividend pay-out which was announced alongside the company's third quarter results yesterday. Analysts at Societe General also feel that it is unlikely that BP will have to part with any cash in respect to the ongoing US legal proceedings until at least 2015. The shares grew by 4.5p to 482p. Goldman Sachs upgraded its "sell"stance on platinum producer Aquarius Platinum (AQP) to "neutral", setting a target price of 43p. The investment bank notes that the shares have plunged by nearly 20% in the last month, a level that Goldman Sachs is now more comfortable with. However, Goldman is not overly bullish on the shares and remains markedly cautious on the weak platinum pricing environment. The shares crept upwards by 1.25p to 42p. ADVERTISEMENT Interested in trading forex? Join us at our free educational seminar on Friday 1st November For more information CLICK HERE Blue Chips Unlike its banking counterpart Lloyds, Barclays (BARC) has declared that the amount it has set aside to pay compensation for mis-sold personal protection insurance remains unchanged at just under 4 billion pounds. Results-wise, over the nine months ended 30th September, Barclays saw its pre-tax profits grow from 962 million pounds to 2.85 billion pounds, an increase driven by a significant reduction in credit charges. The shares were up by 2.4p at 268.45p. Retailer Next (NXT) announced a 0.4% increase in Next Retail sales, while turnover at its Directory business saw sales surge by 10.7% over the three months ended 30th September. As a result of a pickup in trading activity over the third quarter of the year, the retailer was able to up its profit guidance for the year, now claiming that it could generate 9.4% growth in pre-tax profits for 2013, up on the 8.6% growth which was eluded to back in September. The shares surged by 245p to 5,450p. Education and publishing group Pearson (PSON) warned that 2013 operating profits could come in lower than expected because of accounting changes and weaker than expected demand for school text books in the US. However, the company - which generates around 60% of its revenues in North America - did say that it was enjoying success in digital, services and emerging markets. Broker Liberum Capital remains unconvinced and re-iterated its "sell"recommendation and 1,050p target price. The shares slumped by 49p to 1,316p. Mid Caps Gold miner African Barrick Gold (ABG) said that it would exceed its annual production targets, as well as stressing that it is making progress with its cost-cutting plan. The claims should give investors hope that the Tanzania-based miner is well and truly beginning to turn its fortunes around. The company generated $31 million (19.17 million pounds) in profit over the third quarter of the year, down on the $34 million (21 million pounds) in a fall reflecting the 22% decline gold price over the period. The shares ended the day looking shiny, up by 27.1p at 197.2p. Petra Diamonds (PDL) posted a 21% increase in production to 2,668,305 carats in its 2013 fiscal year, a result which helped drag profits up by 34% to $138.6 million (85.7 million pounds). These results would have been even better if it had not been for a two week period of industrial action which hit some of the firm's South African mines in September. Looking ahead, the firm insists it is on track to increase production to 5 million carats by 2019. The shares slipped by 1.8p to 113.7p. Small Caps Copper Development Corporation (CDC) intends to redeem and cancel some or all of its shares. The brief update revealed that the company will be offering 3.79p per share, a 32.7% premium to yesterday's closing price of 2.33p. The Philippines-based copper miner said that it expects any deal to be complete by the 2nd December. The shares soared by 1.275p to 3.6p. Financial services provider and pawnbroker Albemarle & Bond (ABM) revealed that it has struck a deal with its creditors to delay a test of its covenants until February in a move designed to give the company more time to turn the business around. The group, which has recently appointed a new CEO and Chief Restructuring Officer, said that trading conditions remain fragile, with the current low gold price and increasing levels of competition both biting particularly hard. The shares inched upwards by 2.75p to 45.25p. Software provider Advanced Computer Software (ASW) announced that revenues grew by 74% over the 6 months ended 31st August, with pre-tax profits inching upwards by 7% to 4.8 million pounds. The numbers were boosted by the recent acquisition of fellow IT specialist Computer Software Holdings. Looking ahead, the group has not ruled out further acquisitions in order to accelerate growth but also insisted that there were also good organic growth opportunities . The shares ticked upwards by 2.25p to 89.5p. 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 Utilitywise (UTW), which helps to cut firm's energy bills, has recorded an extra 431,000 pounds as pre-tax profits in its audited results compared with its preliminary numbers, bringing pre-tax profits for the year ended 31st July to 7.4 million pounds. The additional profits came about as the company reduced the discount rate applied to revenues from 9% to 3%, in a move which Utilitywise says reflects the lower risk of trading with blue-chip energy companies. The shares jumped by 11.5p to 217p. Recruiting and outsourcing company Servoca (SVCA) declared that its results for the year ended 30th September will come in "significantly ahead of market expectations". The group said that its results were boosted by the traditionally busy September period which benefited its education recruitment business in particular. Investors will now have to wait until 30th September for the specific numbers from the period. The shares swelled by 1.875p to 6.5p. Mineral explorer Rare Earth Minerals (REM) revealed it has ploughed another $450,000 (278,000 pounds) into Bacanora Minerals Limited, bringing its total stake in the company to 2.2%. Management explained that the extra investment has been made in order to gain exposure to Bacanora's 100% owned La Ventana Lithium Project and their 100% owned Magdalena Borate Project in Mexico. The shares nudged ahead by 0.005p to 0.76p.

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