23.10.13 Wednesday Afternoon

European benchmarks closed lower today on sentiment that saw investors, wary of how well equities have performed recently, pull money from risk assets. The nervousness has returned, allowing markets to continue climbing a wall of worry.

But this worry of how less cheap stocks are is a nice problem to be presented with. Indeed, rather than be concerned over sovereign default or a debt crisis, investors are worrying about what might happen next, where the next reason to sell comes from. And it is against those concerns that a bull market develops.

So long as negative news flow remains largely absent but with investors cautious, improving macro trends and cheap money could allow for the market to continue its gain into the end of the year and perhaps beyond. Barometers of money flow, economic health and consumer activity will be watched closely.

Risers:

Sports Direct, +1.34%

Britain's biggest sporting goods retailer Sports Direct posted a 15 percent jump in second quarter sales and said strong trading since has left it confident of hitting its profit target. In its first trading update since entering the FTSE 100 last month, the firm announced that group total sales in the 9 weeks to Sept 29^th had jumped to £463.7 million, with gross profit up 19.4 percent to £199.8 million.

Laird, +5.85%

Electronics and technology business Laird has risen more than any other share in the FTSE 350 after confirming that expectations for its full-year results remained unchanged after its third-quarter revenues were boosted by a strong performance in its performance materials division. Laird said it had seen total revenues of £141 million in the third quarter, up from £133  million in the previous year

Home Retail Group, +3.69%

Britain's Home Retail Group , the firm behind Argos and DIY chain Homebase, reported a 53 percent jump in first half profit and said it was in good shape as it approached its key Christmas trading period. Revenue rose 3 percent to 2.6 billion pounds, helped by a strong summer of garden furniture and barbecue sales at Homebase. Like-for-like sales grew 5.9 percent at Homebase, its best performance since its acquisition in 2002, and rose 2.3 percent at its larger Argos business.

UBC Media, +38.71%

Achieving the most significant gains amongst AIM listed equities, UBC Media shares have soared following an announcement that the company plans to invest further in Audioboo , an audio social-network platform, which is quickly growing its user base. London-based Audioboo increased its registered users nearly threefold from 600,000 to 1.7 million.

Wasabi Energy, +22%

Wasabi Energy shares are trading higher during this morning’s session after the company claimed that it expects the UK government's deal with EDF Energy to build a new nuclear power station to result in significant opportunities for its own energy business in the country. Wasabi technology is used to generate electricity from heat produced by industrial plants and renewable sources.

Fallers:

Royal Bank of Scotland, -2.79%

RBS stock had its “sell” rating reaffirmed by Citigroup in a research note issued today. They currently have a 275p price target on the stock. Citigroup’s price objective indicates a potential downside of 24.03% from the stock’s previous close.

Rio Tinto, -1.69%

Expected to cut 800 jobs globally as a result of a $100M office outsourcing deal with IBM, the challenge of increasing costs is starting to weigh on Rio Tinto. Jobs in areas such as human resources, finance, information technology and procurement are set to be effected, however there has been no word on how many Australian positions will go. A Rio spokesman said the deal was aimed at removing roles which did not represent the company’s core business.

De La Rue, -10.09%

Shedding the most value amongst FTSE 350 stocks,  over-capacity in the banknote printing business means having a licence to print money is not what it was. Shares plunged in early trading as the company - no stranger to profit warnings in recent times - lowered full-year profits guidance. The company now expects full-year operating profit will be around £90mln, which means it will fail in its previously announced ambition to raise operating profits from £40mln in 2010/11 to £100mln.

Premier Oil, -11.3%

The independent oil company has downgraded its expectations for its full year production, to 57-59,000 barrels of oil per day down from a previous estimate of 63,000. This comes amid infrastructure constraints in the North Sea, and as exports from the Chim Sáo field in Vietnam suffered a leak.

Avia Health Informatocs, -63.79%

Avia Health Informatics, which is changing its name to Cientifica after converting to be an investment company, saw its shares plunge this morning after its expanded share issue, bolstered by a GBP326,000 placing, was readmitted to AIM. The company's shares were suspended in June after it ran into difficulties when talks to license its healthcare technology failed. It then decided to sell that business and convert to an investment company, focusing on graphene technology.