Thursday’s Master Investor Market Report

– The FTSE 100 closed the day at 6,192.03, an increase of 212.83 points.
– The FTSE 250 grew by 320.64 points to finish at 16,921.95.
– The FTSE All Share climbed by 105.72 points to 3,403.05.
– The FTSE AIM All Share finished at 726.64, a rise of 10.08 points.

US GDP for the second quarter of 2015 has been revised upwards to 3.7% from the prior estimate of 2.3%, as inventories built up at a faster rate than previously expected. However, this may in turn weigh down upon third quarter performance.

Platinum miner Lonmin (LMI) has reported that its cost cutting moves are well underway and that it has targeted 100,000 oz. of high cost production to be cut within the next two years. It has also managed to beat cost guidance for the year to July. So far, 1,400 jobs have been cut from a planned total of 6,000. Shares in the company dropped 4.18% to 33.03p.

SQS Software (SQS) has announced that it will buy US based testing specialist Galmont Consulting in a cash and shares deal worth up to $22 million (£14.27 million). SQS said that the deal was justified in terms of expanding its geographical reach and helping it gain a foothold in US markets. The initial consideration will be $7 million (£4.54 million), evenly split between cash and equity. The shares rose by 1p to 575p.

Oil and gas services provider Amec Foster Wheeler (AMFW) has posted a profit before taxation of £73 million for the six months ended 30th June, a 12% decline from the same period of 2014 as price pressure weighed on margins and procurement costs rose. Revenues grew by 43% to £2.66 billion after the acquisition of Foster Wheeler. Management remain confident that the firm can meet its full year targets. Shares in the company climbed 23p to 763.5p.

Gambling and trading software developer Playtech (PTEC) improved its revenues for the first half of the year by 33% to €286 million (£208.5 million) as the company benefited from a number of strategic acquisitions made over the course of the last 12 months. Shore Capital retained its “buy” position on the stock and said that fair value was approaching £10. The shares fell 24p to 867p.

Tomorrow’s news today

Bwin.party (BPTY), Computacenter (CCC), and Restaurant Group (RTN) will publish interim results tomorrow.

Quote of the day

“Our patience will achieve more than our force.”
– Edmund Burke