Broker prescribes Axis-Shield shares

Published on Thursday 8 January 2009 20:26

SCOTS STOCKS

AXIS-SHIELD treaded water despite positive broker comment following its year-end trading statement on Wednesday. Brewin Dolphin added the Dundee medical diagnostics company to its "conviction buy" list of top-rated shares for 2009, saying it "looks well set for 2009 and should be relatively immune from any wider economic woes". Meanwhile Goldman Sachs raised its target price to 358p. But Axis-Shield ended the day unchanged on 310p.

Aberdeen Asset Management and Venture Production were named as two of RBS' top 12 picks for 2009 but the status did little for shares. AAM closed unchanged on 118p while Venture, hit by falling crude oil prices, eased 2.5 per cent to 482.5p.

Other oil companies were also down, with Dana Petroleum off 47p at 1,040p and Cairn Energy easing 98p to 1,902p.

Scottish & Southern Energy, which plunged on Wednesday after its 479 million rights issue, clawed back some of the losses, rising 24p to 1,183p.

Macfarlane, the Glasgow packaging group, rose a quarter of a penny to 18p after announcing the disposal of its Irish plastics business, to pay down debt.

Weir, the Glasgow engineering group, closed up 2.5p at 397.5p after upgrading its profit expectations but giving an uncertain outlook, with analysts concerned that it will be hit by fall in investment in the mining and oil and gas sectors.

Semiconductor company Wolfson Microelectronics rose 2p to 90.25p, its highest price since the start of October.