Stock market analysis from The Share Centre
Nick Raynor, investment adviser at The Share Centre, comments on this week's market.
He said: "Not much activity in the markets this week on the takeover front, it was also very quiet from a reporting point of view.
"A few trading statements were released. Amongst these was Northern Rock's indication that profits are to rise 15%, instead of the 17% forecasted.
"Because of this over £500 million was wiped off the company's value.
"Many market institutions believed this to be a slight over-reaction.
"In the US, interest rates remained unchanged but we see this as being an unlikely event in July when the Bank of England discusses interest rates again.
"Another quiet week on the cards coming up results wise and so not much to look forward to, so the best we can hope for is some more acquisition developments.
"For the week the FTSE 100 rose 40.9 points to close at 6.607.9."
For further information please visit the The Share Centre's share picker tool: www.share.com/webp/v_spick.htm
The UK Market's Winners and Losers
Winners
| Company | Percentage change | Closing price | Comment |
| Experian Group | +6.2% | 627p | Market reacts positively to its Brazilian purchase. |
| Vodafone | +6. 8% | 166.6p | Rising on the back of a possibility of winning the European rights for Apples iPhone. |
| Domestic & General | +11.5% | 1360p | The company indicated that they had received fresh bid approaches, while also still in talks with Homeserve. |
| Charter plc | +10.1% | 1101p | AGM statement says 'market conditions continue to be favourable'. |
| Amec | +3.7% | 587p | Trading statement pleases, cash levels now up to £300million and could be used for further acquisitions. |
Losers
| Company | Percentage change | Closing price | Comment |
| Northern Rock | -8.7% | 868p | Profits miss forecasts, but only just. |
| BAE Systems | -8. 5% | 401p | US Department of Justice starts anti-corruption probe. |
| United Utilities | -7.2% | 705p | Shares trading ex-dividend. |
| Pendragon | -19. 9% | 78.5p | Trading statement effectively doubles up as a profit warning. |
| Hunting | -5% | 733.5p | Trading statement raises concerns over US dollar weakness and notes a rise in capital expenditure by 50%. |
NOTE: The companies detailed above may or may not be the biggest percentage movers (plus/minus) in the week.
Mondays companies reporting:
- Interim Results:
Travelzest, Severstal (Q1). - Final Results:
Sovereign Oilfield, Photo-Me International. - Trading Statements:
Wellstream, CRH, Morgan Sindall.
Tuesdays companies reporting:
- Interim results:
Alphameric. - Final Results:
CybIT Holdings, Greene King, Northgate, NCC, Top Ten Holdings, Total Systems
Wednesdays companies reporting:
- Interim results:
Eros International. - Final Results:
Begbies Traynor Group, DTZ Holdings, Northgate Information Solutions, Tribal Group. - Trading Statements:
Morgan Crucible
Thursdays companies reporting:
- Interim results:
Samuel Heath & Sons. - Final Results:
ANGLE. - Trading Statements:
Cookson Group, Interserve, Michael Page International, Redrow.
Fridays companies reporting:
- Interim results:
SIG - Trading statements:
Bovis Homes Group.
Comments
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