Ongoing concerns over the Russia/Ukraine situation continues to keep market sentiment on a knife edge and this is being played out with London’s junior index having shed almost 18 points, running into the close at 1042.08. That’s around the levels seen in November 2020 and for many the psychological 1,000 mark will now be in focus.
- Synectics +21%
- Arc Minerals +18%
- Synairgen -85%
- Morses club -63%
- Ncondezi Energy -20%
Synectics LON:SNX topped the board, adding 21% by the bell. There’s no news in play but the stock is a small cap which is typically thinly traded and the spread heading into the close was accounting for much of the delta here.
Arc Minerals LON:ARCM also fared well, adding 18% against a challenging market backdrop. Volumes were certainly elevated but there was no binding news beyond a promised investor update for this Friday. This did however serve to reverse losses accrued on the stock over the last week or so.
Shares in Synairgen LON:SNG took a pasting today, falling 85% to levels not seen since before the pandemic took hold. The company published top line results from phase 3 trials of its therapy for patients hospitalised with COVID and whilst being well tolerated, neither primary nor secondary efficacy endpoints were achieved. There are suggestions that improvements in underlying patent care may have mitigated some potential benefit here and the potential for these therapies extends beyond COVID-19 – the question therefore is whether the correction is simply overdone.
The second worst performer was Morses Club LON:MCL, with shares off 63% on the day. The stock found itself in focus last week after posting a 15% decline in lumpy trade but today’s shake out comes in response to an admission that claims management companies are ramping up action against the business. Full year profit forecasts have been revised down by as much as 30% and the CEO has stepped down with immediate effect.
A notable mention to Ncondezi Energy LON:NCCL which came in some 20% lower on the day. Shares have had quite a run up over the last week off what seems to be little more than read across. This latest bout of profit taking shouldn’t therefore be too much of a surprise but it’s a timely reminder of the fickle nature of the market.
