Markets: An Apple a day keeps the bears at bay

Another set of blowout numbers from US technology giant Apple helped London’s technology sector make gains yesterday.

Chipmaker ARM Holdings, whose technology powers Apple’s iPad and iPhone, bounced back from Tuesday’s disappointing results with a gain of 6p to 537.5p after Apple said quarterly profits nearly doubled to £7.3 billion. Scottish electronics firm Wolfson was also buoyed by the news, adding 4 per cent or 6.75p to 173.75p.

Michael Hewson, senior analyst at CMC Markets, said that on the downside, the more defensive sectors slid sharply with health care and utilities stocks lagging behind.

Scottish Gas-owner Centrica was one of the biggest fallers, shedding 3.8 per cent to 310.2p as it went ex-dividend. The FTSE 100 Index shrugged off news that the UK was technically back in recession to post a modest gain of 9.4 points, at 5,718.9.

Shares in drugs giant GlaxoSmithKline were down by more than 3 per cent after results for the first quarter of 2012 came in short of expectations. While the company announced a 6 per cent rise in its dividend and said the outlook for sales growth was unchanged, investors were focused on near flat core operating profits at £2.1bn. Shares fell 44p to 1,413.5p but rival AstraZeneca was more resilient, with its stock up 3.5p to 2,841p.

Broker Peel Hunt gave a filip to Edinburgh-based Cupid’s stock with a note saying recent share price weakness had created “an attractive entry point” for investors. It said an advertising campaign had seen Cupid’s BeNaughty site move rapidly up the traffic volume rankings during the first three months of 2012, to become one of the world’s 500 most visited websites. The firm’s shares gained 4.6 per cent to 198.75p.

New York: Wall Street rallied last night, with Apple’s surge giving the Nasdaq its biggest gain of the year, while Fed chairman Ben Bernanke said the US central bank would do more if necessary to lift the economy.

The Dow Jones industrial average shot up 89.16 points, or 0.69 per cent, to end at 13,090.72 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index gained 18.72 points, or 1.36 per cent, to finish at 1,390.69. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 68.03 points, or 2.30 per cent, to close at 3,029.63.