Markets: Swings and rounabouts for Iomart

IT WAS a day of two halves for Iomart, the Glasgow-based website hosting company run by serial technology entrepreneur Angus MacSween.

Shares in the firm hit an all-time high of 210p before major shareholder Henderson Global Investors announced it had cut its stake by 31 per cent to seven million shares. Iomart closed down 4 per cent or 8.25p last night at 199.75p.

Fellow Scottish tech stock Optos headed in the opposite direction – closing up 11.9 per cent or 23.75p at 222.75p – after an analysts’ note from Canaccord Genuity, which predicted that a full-year trading update in the next fortnight is expected to reveal the Dunfermline-based firm has reversed “the underperformance of the past six months”.

Analysts remain dividend over FirstGroup following Wednesday’s 20 per cent plunge. The stock edged up 7.2p or 3.7 per cent to 200.6p

Glasgow engineering giant Weir Group was also up, despite analysts at RBC Capital Markets warning ahead of next month’s third-quarter results that “a pause may be in order following share price outperformance”. The FTSE 100 stock climbed 38p or 2.2 per cent to 1,800p.

The broader Footsie edged up 1.97 points to 5,827.78 as both the Bank of England and European Central Bank remained in wait-and-see mode and left their interest rates unchanged.

NEW YORK: The S&P 500 extended gains to a fourth day, putting it on the cusp of a new five-year high if today’s jobs report shows encouraging signs for the US labour market.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 80.75 points, or 0.6 per cent, to end the day at 13,575.36 while the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 10.41 points, or 0.72 per cent, to close at 1,461.40. The Nasdaq Composite added 14.23 points, or 0.45 per cent, to finish at 3,149.46.