Wednesday’s Master Investor Market Report

– The FTSE 100 closed the day at 6,061.61, an increase of 152.37 points.
– The FTSE 250 rose by 240.53 points to finish at 16,683.02.
– The FTSE All Share climbed by 75.46 points to 3,335.92.
– The FTSE AIM All Share finished at 725.26, up by 4.82 points.

The Eurozone dropped back into deflation in September according to the latest figures from Eurostat. The price level across the currency union fell by 0.1%, primarily due to energy prices declining by 8.9% year-on-year.

Investors went shopping for supermarket Sainsbury (SBRY), whose shares jumped by 13.82% to 261p after it said that full year underlying pre-tax profits would be moderately ahead of the previous guidance of £548 million, despite a fall in total sales caused by a drop in petrol prices. However, on a like-for-like basis the company’s sales fell by 1.1% even when fuel was excluded. Management felt that good progress was being made given the challenging conditions in the market.

Shares in materials specialist Graphene Nanochem (GRPH) fell by 10.48% to 13.50p as it revealed that its pre-tax loss for the six months ended 30th June had widened to £3.7 million. The company’s revenue dropped by almost two thirds to £7 million as it narrowed its offering on a smaller range of high margin products and exited low margin capital intensive sectors like fuel additives.

Quindell (QPP) posted revenues of £35 million for the six months ended 30th June, a 17.5% decline relative to the same period of 2014, while the firm’s pre-tax loss held broadly steady at around £35 million. The sale of the professional services division for £485.9 million pounds left the firm with cash of around £550 million at the close of the half. Quindell shares grew by 4.25p to 101.50p.

Ceramics retailer Topps Tiles (TPT) said that revenues for the 53 weeks ended 3rd October will be roughly £212 million, a 5.3% improvement over the prior year in like-for-like terms. Management believe that the company’s streamlining strategy is proceeding well, and it has brought all of its stores under a single brand and fronting. Shares in the company dropped by 2p to 145p.

Tomorrow’s news today

ITE (ITE) will post a trading statement tomorrow morning.

Quote of the day

“The future has a way of arriving unannounced.”
– George Will