Dowlais shares rose after a US investor revealed a stake in the engineering group.
Baltimore-based T Rowe Price owns 5.32 percent of the GKN spinoff, according to the latest regulatory filing. The American investment house also has stakes in the so-called ‘Magnificent Seven’ technology stocks, including Microsoft, Amazon and Tesla, which are the most valuable companies on Wall Street.
And it owns shares in London-listed companies such as Next (up 0.8 per cent, or 70 pence, to 8,470 pence), Shell (up 1.3 per cent, or 33 pence, to 2,497 pence) and Unilever ( up 1.2 per cent, or 48.5p, to 4029.5p).
In another dose of good news, Dowlais received a vote of confidence from the city.
Barclays said the FTSE 250 company “ticks the right boxes” against the main criteria investors will be looking for this year, including strong profit momentum.
At stake: Baltimore-based T Rowe Price owns 5.32 percent of GKN spinoff Dowlais
Jefferies analysts said Dowlais shares, which listed last year, were hurt by factors such as the strike by U.S. automakers. Dowlais produces transmission components, parts that connect a car’s engine to the wheels. Since the stock is the cheapest in its industry, the broker believes that investors will increase its value. The shares gained 3 per cent, or 2.62 pence, to 90.52 pence.
Dowlais floated on the London stock exchange in April last year as a stand-alone car company after blue-chip Melrose spun it off from GKN (unchanged at 610.8p), which has turned its attention to the aerospace business. Melrose bought GKN for £8.1bn in 2018.
The FTSE 100 rose 1.5 per cent, or 114.18 points, to 7,711.71 and the FTSE 250 rose 0.5 per cent, or 92.31 points, to 19,191.93.
The main index posted one of its best sessions so far this year, as hopes about interest rate cuts in China boosted Asia-focused stocks.
Insurer Prudential rose 3.3 per cent, or 26.8 pence, to 834.4 pence, and lender Standard Chartered rose 2.4 per cent, or 13.8 pence, to 594.6 pence.
High copper prices boosted mining giants: Rio Tinto rose 3.5 per cent, or 187 pence, to 5,515 pence, Antofagasta added 5.7 per cent, or 95.5 pence, to 1,785 pence and Anglo American rose 2 per cent, or 35.2 pence, to 1,802.2 pence. But Petra Diamonds, another miner, fell into the red after a drop in sales. The shares fell 6.4 per cent, or 2.8 pence, to 41 pence.
Some love was shown towards The Works after Kelso Group, which invests in British small and mid-cap companies such as THG (down 2.1 per cent, or 1.42p, to 67.28p) and Angling Direct ( remained stable at 39 pence), bought shares. at the craft signing on Valentine’s Day.
It acquired 345,000 shares at around 24.03 pence each, raising its stake to almost 6 per cent.
Two Kelso directors also held positions on The Works’ board of directors.
Shares in The Works rose 4.5 per cent, or 1.1p, to 25.65p and Kelso Group lost 1.6 per cent, or 0.05p, to 3p. Podcast publisher Audioboom reached a milestone. Its podcasts were downloaded by more than 38.6 million listeners worldwide in January, a monthly record. Shares, however, held steady at 237.5p.
Centrica expanded its profits a day after reporting British Gas profits hit £751m last year (up from £72m in 2022) as the company recouped money lost during the energy crisis. The shares added 2.1 per cent, or 2.9 pence, to 139.1 pence.
It was another hard-hitting session for Close Brothers. The merchant bank plunged 22.5 per cent on Thursday after it canceled its dividend and warned of “significant uncertainty” over the Financial Conduct Authority’s investigation into the possible mis-selling of car loans between 2007 and 2021. The stock suffered another decline, falling 3 percent. or 9.2p, to 299.2p.
On Thursday, animal genetics company Genus warned that turmoil in China’s pig and dairy markets will hit its profits, wiping almost £230m off its value. But yesterday the shares rose 0.3 per cent, or 6p, to 1,786p.
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