UK shares continue their run higher in early trade on Wednesday as mining and oil majors race to the top of the top of FTSE 100 leader board. Wall Street closed higher overnight, while in Asia the Hang Seng firmed.
Generator hire firm Aggreko (AGK) gains 4.6% to 957p on the back of increasing commodity prices.
Supermarkets follow Tesco (TSCO) as it rose 3.6% to 150.15p, with Sainsbury (SBRY) further back. Financials are piloted by Standard Chartered (STAN), up 2.5% to 574.65p, and Old Mutual (OML), up 2% to 177.95p.
Sovereign Mines of Africa (SMA:AIM) soars 90% to 0.26p as it appoints Giles Clarke as chairman and Rupert Fraser as a non-executive director, both effective following completion of a £500,000 share subscription.
But the warnings are starting to come through already with GAME Digital (GMD) crashing 40% to 124.75p as it flags miserable trading conditions in the UK retail market for the 21 weeks to 19 December. Total sales for the video games market is down 13.5% year on year.
Also hit is personal goods firm Pittards (PTD:AIM). It shares crumble 11% to 82.5p as it too issues a profit warning, saying that suppressed demand continues to hit volumes. The company notes that while it expects full year results to show a reasonable level of profit, they will be materially below current market expectations.
Broker Panmure Gordon (PMR:AIM) slumps 24% to 62.5p as it now anticipates a full year loss after tax from normal operations of about £4 million to £4.5 million. This is the result of difficult market conditions have prevailed in the second half of 2015 resulting in a decline in capital market transactions leading to lower revenue.
MoneySwap (SWAP:AIM) falls 16% to 0.25p as its interims losses widen to $2.1 million, from $1.7 million a year ago. This is mostly down to administrative expenses, it claims.
Nighthawk Energy (HAWK:AIM), down 9% to 1p, has announced an extension waiver on the company's reserve based loan renegotiation.
Troubled diagnostic-maker EKF (EKF:AIM) falls 4.1% to 11.5p as it sells Selah Genomics to its founders for a nominal fee some 18 months after buying the business for $35.6 million. EKF is in restructuring mode after failing to find a buyer following a strategic review.
Oncology-focused drug developer Midatech Pharma (MTPH:AIM) dives 7.6% to 157.5p on issuing almost 225,000 new shares to pay for its Q Chip acquisition. Further share issues are planned.
