Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) soars by 12.3% to 344.2p as the market applauds its first quarter performance. Pre-tax profit doubles to £1.6 billion. Impairments are down and there's cost savings achieved across the business. Espirito Santo says the results, which significantly beat expectations, suggest the bank may exceed its capital targets, potential triggering higher dividends in the future.

Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca (AZN) falls 0.4% to £47.95 after the board rejects a £50 per share takeover proposal from US rival and Viagra maker Pfizer (PFE:NYSE).

InterContinental Hotels (IHG) jumps 6% to £21.45 on newsof a $750 special dividend pot to be shared out among investors.

Unconventional oil and gas play Falcon Oil & Gas (FOG:AIM) gains 27.6% to 11p as it agrees a A$200 million farm-out deal on its Beetaloo asset in Australia with Aussie firm Origin Energy (ORG:ASX) and South Africa's Sasol (SSL:NYSE). For more details, see our in-depth story here.

Premier African Minerals (PREM:AIM) extends yesterday's gains with a further 21% ascent to 1.15p as investors cotton on to a large resource upgradeat its tungsten project in Zimbabwe and note newsof a conditional $2.5 million interest-free loan. We flagged the small cap miner's significant appeal last October.

A serial offender with reporting exceptional items and missing earnings forecasts, nuclear engineer Redhall (RHL:AIM) is in detention once again. The small cap issues yet another profit warningand flags new 'one-off' items that will dent its financial accounts, sending its share price down 12.8% to 41p. The finance director leaves with immediate effect. We said in March that 'the risks remain high' with Redhall.

Emerald producer Gemfields (GEM:AIM) falls 4.1% to 38.13p after a disappointing quarterly update. Output from its Kagem mine in Zambia is down, blaming lower grades being mined and bad rain affecting production. This pushes up costs as it doesn't benefit from economies of scale.

US-focused Rose Petroleum (ROSE:AIM) gushes up 9.7% to 0.8p as its plans for freshly-acquired acreage in Utah's Paradox basin receive a boostas the operator of a neighbouring project gave a positive update. The US firm in question MDU Resources (MDU:NYSE) told its shareholders the Paradox is its fastest growing oil producing area with first quarter output up 121%.

Escrow and IT security business NCC (NCC) bolstersits cyber security side with the acquisition of Danish testing business FontConsult. The cash deal could cost NCC up to £4 million, but IT security remains a high demand area amid the increasingly digitised world. The shares add 2.25p to 184.75p.

Contract electronics manufacturer Stadium (SDM:AIM) rallies 4.4% to 70.5p after saying it is on track to meet expectations this year. Analysts see 50% growth in pre-tax profits, from £1.8 million in 2013 to £2.9 million this year.

Shielding kit supplier for smartphones Laird (LRD) reportssolid trading during 2014 to date, but forex headwinds are blowing strongly, cutting a 7% dollar revenue rise to just 1% in sterling. The shares remains flat at 280p.

Steppe Cement (STCM) adds 2.8% to 36.5p after the Kuala Lumpur-headquartered construction materials specialist's final resultsreveal a 25% increase in pre-tax profit to US$10.5 million.

First quarter results are better than expected from Irish paper and packaging giant Smurfit Kappa (SKG), yet the stock continues its weak patch, down 2.1% to €15.67. Stockbroker Davy says concerns regarding the recent weakening in containerboard prices 'appear overblown'. Smurfit is a running Shares Play of the Week.

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Issue Date: 02 May 2014