After a flat start to the session, that hotter than expected US inflation data took a toll on London’s AIM Index, with the prospect of no change from the Fed doing little to drive risk appetite. Heading into the close the junior market had given back all of yesterday’s gains and then some, to sit just over three points lower at 747.06.
- Empyrean Energy +52%
- MicroSalt +22%
- Tekcapital +11%
- Saietta Group -55%
- Artemis Resources -40%
Empyrean Energy LON:EME had a good day, adding 52% off the back of well received placing news. New stock had been issued at a 20% discount to last night’s closing price but clearly there’s support for the additional headroom this offers the business. Interims from December flagged the need for additional funding but with this now delivered the business should be able to look forward to some promising future revenues.
Recently IPO’d MicroSalt [LON:SALT] was in second place, standing some 22% higher. The closing spread was more than 6% and there’s no news out, but the market seems to be cottoning onto the potential of this product.
The notable mention goes to Tekcapital LON:TEK, up 11%. They own a majority stake in MicroSalt which would explain the uplift on its own, although the business also reported some stake building activity during the session, too.
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Saietta Group LON:SED was the worst performer ahead of the bell, down some 55% following a commercial update issued this morning. This included the prospect of selling a redundant production line for £600k, a move which would impact future cashflows, and also an acknowledgement that the business is only funded until March.
Artemis Resources [LON:ARV] was in second to last place, down 40% heading into the close. The move comes off the back of Monday’s strong performance in the wake of assay results but with the Australian listing of the stock having been suspended, some arbing appeared to be in play as markets caught up.
