The AIM Index was by mid-morning sitting on a loss of almost 30 points, but a semblance of calm on Wall Street after yesterday’s frenzied retail vs hedge fund battle seems to have aided a rebound. The index finished just over four points lower at 1171.71.
- Eurasia Mining up 39%
- Craven House Capital up 36%
- Ilika down 18%
- Tanfield Group down 17%
- ITM Power down 9%
Eurasia Mining LON:EUA topped the board today, recovering some of Wednesday’s losses as it added 39% but remaining off side. This morning in an RNS the company confirmed that a major shareholder had disposed of a significant tranche of stock without warning – but this was bought by an institutional investor, something which offers a degree of support. The shareholder has also agreed not to make further disposals.
Merchant Bank Craven House Capital LON:CRV jumped 36% during Thursday’s trade but there’s nothing behind the move. Only one buy order took place for a modest number of shares and with the firm worth just over £2m, this really counts for little.
Battery specialist Ilika LON:IKA was the day’s biggest faller, with shares off by 18% at the close. As with many stocks in the green energy sector, the company saw a surge in popularity over the year end, so whilst today’s losses are chunky, the stock remains more than 100% up from its mid-December levels. There’s some disappointment that President Biden isn’t pushing the green agenda as hard as may have been envisaged, whilst a scrabble for cash by some market participants after yesterday’s crazy moves has also been mooted as something of an extraneous factor.
Tanfield Group LON:TAN, the micro-cap engineering firm, also had a rough ride today with shares sliding 17%. There’s no news here but thin trade and a fairly wide closing spread both contribute to exacerbate the downside here.
A notable mention for ITM Power LON:ITM, one of the largest stocks by market cap on AIM. It has been a wild 24 hrs for shareholders with the stock slumping from 660p ahead of Wednesday’s close down to session lows of 500p – a 24% fall. A half year update clearly failed to inspire however, with income up but losses rising. Again there may have been some panic selling here by institutions looking to balance books, making the stock a target but confidence has been ebbing back in during the day, ultimately closing just 9% lower. The resilience here seems worthy of note.
