Risers & Fallers courtesy of Spreadex

Risers

Rare Earth Minerals, up 39%

Has received final analytical results for drill core from its Fleur-El Sauz Lithium Project in northern Mexico. The results provide continued firm evidence that Fleur-El Sauz has potential to be part of a major high grade lithium discovery

Hikma Pharmaceuticals, up 2.7%

The pharmaceutical group, has raised its guidance to around 20% revenue growth for the full year after reporting a rise in first-half profit and revenue

Standard Life, up 2.4%

The insurance group has been upgraded to neutral from underperform at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. They note the stock has fallen 11% in under two weeks since results. Credit Suisse also upgraded the stock, promoting it to neutral from underperform, raising its target price to 362p from 325p. They have noted that Standard Life’s weak headline profit and modest progression in cash generation in the recent 1H results appeared to be largely a function of lumpy and one-off items. 

Glencore Xstrata, up 2.4%

After reporting their first earnings report since the merger yesterday, Glencore Xstrata have rebounded slightly, trading up over 2 percent on the day as investors digest yesterday’s results. They announced a large write-off of $7.7bn in so-called goodwill asserts which could have spooked investors to dump the stock. 

Brown (N) Group, up 2%

Credit Suisse upgrades N Brown to outperform from neutral and raises price target to 620p from 455p. Notes the shares are up 45% year-to-date, but sees a long-term re-rating given the opportunity for the new management team to transform this traditional credit-driven mail order business into a more competitive and profitable company.

Fallers

Mariana Resources, down 23%

The AIM listed exploration and development company with projects in Argentina, Peru and Chile, have announced they have raised £912,640 through a placing of 91.26 million new ordinary shares at 1 pence.

BHP Billiton, down 1.9%

BHP reports annual profit which fell by almost a third, but still raked in $12 billion dollars for the past financial year. BHP Billiton placed a big bet on rising global demand for food, as a slump in commodity prices pushed the mining company’s profit down for a second straight year. 

African Barrick Gold, down 1.7%

The Board of African Barrick Gold today announced the appointment of Bradley A. Gordon as Chief Executive Officer. Brad succeeds Greg Hawkins, who has resigned to pursue other opportunities. As CEO, Brad will join the Board as an Executive Director. His appointment takes immediate effect