It’s been another day of (modest) disappointment with London’s AIM index struggling as Sterling continues to move a little higher. It’s the first time in 13 sessions that the index has been below 1,200, rounding out the day down 17 at 1183.88.
- Arena Events up 43%
- Comptoir Group up 32%
- Manolete Partners up 13%
- Braveheart Investments down 24%
- Online Blockchain down 19%
Arena Events [LON:ARE] found itself at the top of the board on Tuesday, adding 43% by the close. This marks the start of a breakout for the shares, pushing above levels seen when the vaccine news was first released last November. There’s an argument to say large events will be in demand as COVID lockdowns abate, but will restrictions still apply in some way and will delegates want to attend?
Restaurant operator Comptoir Group LON:COM also had a good day with shares gaining 32%. Again no firm news, but the stock has been sluggish to respond to post-COVID prospects so this appears to be driving the rally.
A notable mention for Manolete Partners LON:MANO who were on our radar at the end of January after a surprising reaction to Q3 results. This is a firm of insolvency practitioners who have seen workloads depressed as a result of government support packages. Consensus is however that the sector will see a recovery as support is unwound and with that outcome moving a bit closer now too, their shares are up 13% on the day.
Braveheart Investments LON:BRH has found itself on the list again but today at the foot of the board with shares off some 24%. There may be a degree of post-COVID optimism here, but it seems that testing is going to be with us for a long time to come. The retracement remains modest in light of the rally posted over the last couple of weeks, but the question has to be if investors have bailed on this prematurely?
Online Blockchain LON:OBC was another notable casualty with shares off 19% by the close, tracking the losses of peers and also the underlying price of Bitcoin. The stock has lost gains of the last week, but if BTC prices resume their upward trend then OBC may well have the potential to follow.