Friday’s Master Investor Market Report

– The FTSE 100 closed the day at 6,117.76, a decrease of 38.05 points.
– The FTSE 250 fell by 51.66 points to finish at 16,968.4.
– The FTSE All Share dropped by 18.29 points to 3,372.85.
– The FTSE AIM All Share finished at 733.80, down by 0.34 points.

A fall in housebuilding activity during July led to a contraction of the overall construction sector, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics. This runs somewhat counter to the reports of major housebuilding outfits from earlier this week and suggests that times are getting tough for smaller operations.

Pub owner JD Wetherspoon (JDW) recorded profits before tax of £77.8 million for the year ended 26th July, a 2% decline from the prior 12 months, which management blamed on the favourable tax treatment given to supermarkets and competition from restaurants. The chain remains committed to expansion and has continued to increase its number of outlets. Shares in the firm fell by 4p to 716p.

Software outfit Tracsis (TRCS) has said that it is outperforming market forecasts and will be around 10% ahead of last’s year results in both revenue and pre-tax profits. Analysts from WH Ireland commented that details were scarce, but Tracsis’s strong first half suggested that the new guidance was realistic. The shares rose by 5p to 460p.

The management of Mosman Oil and Gas (MSMN) said that there is no material reason for today’s 19.51% increase in the company’s share price. The shares closed the day at 6.13p.

Shares in Rosslyn Data Technologies (RDT) shot up by 11.29% to 17.25p after the company revealed that it has signed a deal with an unidentified global mining firm that will be worth £0.4 million over a number of years. Rosslyn will be responsible for consolidating the miner’s data, which is currently stored on multiple platforms, and its RAPid suite will be used for processing going forwards.

Monday’s news today

Abcam (ABC) will publish final results on Monday, while Christie (CTG) and Applegreen (APGN) will put out their interims.

Quote of the day

“There cannot be a crisis next week. My schedule is already full.”
– Henry Kissinger