Upstream Share Discussion Threads

[master rsi] 23/7/2024 16:29

How the UPS are performing during last month

[soulsauce] 23/7/2024 16:28

Kat starting to move now, buyers incoming 👍see post 350.

[master rsi] 23/7/2024 16:15

How the UPS are performing today

[master rsi] 23/7/2024 15:55

HSS 7.35p +0.10p

There was talk not so long ago, that predators like Travis Perkins or Speedy Hire could pounce on the stock, taking advantage of their share price rise in the last 3 months, while HSS hire has been lower by the same time.

Share prices during the last 3 months TPK +34% SDY +66% HSS - 8%

[master rsi] 23/7/2024 15:14

TLY 10.625p (+0.25 / 2.41%%) -- Totally wins new contract and extensions valued at GBP1.5 million

- Totally PLC on Tuesday announced a new contract alongside two contract extensions.

The Derby, England-based company is a provider of frontline healthcare services, corporate fitness and wellbeing services across the UK and Ireland.

Totally secured extensions for two urgent care contracts in England that are collectively valued at almost GBP1.1 million, providing additional in year urgent care revenue.

Within corporate wellbeing, Energy Fitness Professionals won a contract with a new development in London to oversee its fitness and wellbeing facilities. EFP will also curate and manage wellness events tailored to the building's population.

The contract will begin in September, and is valued at GBP500,000 over three years.

Chief Executive Officer Wendy Lawrence said: "We are seeing momentum build as the market continues to ease, and commissioners take positive action to ensure continuity in the delivery of core services. The new corporate wellbeing contract demonstrates recognition of the increasing importance of wellbeing as part of an employee proposition".

[master rsi] 23/7/2024 14:48

DOW

Opening 80 points lower but now only 6 lower

[master rsi] 23/7/2024 13:55

Audioboom mulls US listing citing being "undervalued" as loss narrows

(Alliance News) - Audioboom Group PLC on Tuesday said it is considering a US listing, believing it is "undervalued" following a strong first half of 2024.

The Jersey, England-based podcast publisher is currently considering a US listing to increase the valuation of the business and give the company greater scale.

Audioboom said that revenue increased by 7.2% to USD34.1 million in the six months that ended June 30 from USD31.8 million a year before. Quarterly revenue per 1,000 downloads increased by 38% to a record figure of USD60.09 in the second quarter from USD43.55 a year before.

Pre-tax loss in the first half of 2024 narrowed to USD1.3 million from USD10.6 million a year before.

Audioboom said it has consolidated its position as the fifth-largest podcast network in the US. The company has moved from 2.2 million downloads behind the next-ranked network Audacy to 700,000 downloads ahead of them since the start of the year.

The company noted the challenges posed to the podcast industry by both the advertising market recession and Apple Inc's iOS17 update in late 2023. However, it expects that the update will create "more favourable long-term commercial conditions... due to the increased levels of return-on-investment that more accurate download data will deliver to advertisers".

Looking forward, Audioboom expects to maintain its "positive momentum", and strengthen its position as "the biggest independent podcast network globally", said Chief Executive Officer Stuart Last.

Shares in Audioboom were down 8.9% to 227.75 pence each in London on Tuesday afternoon.

[master rsi] 23/7/2024 13:35

MARKET REPORT
LONDON MARKET MIDDAY: FTSE 100 perks up despite miners falling

(Alliance News) - London's FTSE 100 climbed into the green by Tuesday afternoon, growing in confidence as the morning wore on, despite China slowdown worries keeping a lid on metal prices, hurting miners.

Over in New York, corporate earnings were back in focus, with tech taking centre-stage later.

The FTSE 100 index traded 27.12 points higher, or 0.3%, at 8,225.90. The FTSE 250 was down 17.71 points, 0.1%, at 21,120.97, while the AIM All-Share was down 1.33 points, 0.2%, at 781.91.

The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.3% at 821.39, the Cboe UK 250 was 0.2% lower at 18,444.32, and the Cboe Small Companies was up 0.1% at 17,336.13.

The CAC 40 in Paris rose 0.4%, while Frankfurt's DAX 40 traded 1.1% higher. A share price rise of 6.8% for software firm SAP helped lift the DAX. SAP raised 2025 guidance overnight.

For the FTSE 100, however, the story of the morning was a "poor showing from the mining sector", AJ Bell analyst Dan Coatsworth commented.

"Copper futures have fallen by nearly 7% over the past five days amid concerns about sluggish demand from China as it struggles with a slowdown in economic growth. The market has taken the view that China isn't digging deep enough with stimulus measures to fire up the economy and therefore commodities demand is at risk," the analyst said.

Glencore fell 1.3%, Anglo American lost 1.2%, Rio Tinto gave back 0.9% and Antofagasta was down 0.7%. They were among the worst FTSE 100 listed performers. Elsewhere in London, BHP fell 1.6%.

Rising in London, however, Compass added 5.0%. It said "industry trends remain strong" as it reported an increase in revenue and raised growth guidance. In the third quarter ended June 30, organic revenue rose 10%.

"As expected, net new business growth accelerated in Q3, whilst pricing moderated in line with inflation. Volumes continued to benefit from the quality of our offer and the value gap compared to the high street," Compass said.

Compass added: "We are pleased with our third quarter performance. The group delivered good growth across all regions and benefited from improved net new business in line with our expectations. For the full year we now expect underlying operating profit growth to be above 15% on a constant-currency basis with organic revenue growth above 10%."

It had previously expected underlying operating profit growth "towards 15%" and an organic revenue rise "towards 10%".

Beazley rose 2.0%. It soothed some investor worry after a global IT glitch had prompted concern that the insurer could have been caught in the cross-hairs.

The FTSE 100 listing left its guidance for underwriting performance unchanged on Tuesday. This followed the global IT crash on Friday last week, caused by a faulty software update by cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike Holdings.

Beazley, noting that it is a leading cyber insurer, said that "based on what is known at this point", the event will not change its guidance for an undiscounted combined ratio in the low-80s for 2024.

A combined ratio below 100 means a profit on underwriting, so the lower, the better. Beazley said it will profit an update with its first-half results on August 8.

Elsewhere in London, Fuller, Smith & Turner added 1.0%. The pub chain said inflation pressure is abating and its margins "are recovering". Like-for-like sales grew 5.3% in the 16 weeks to July 20. This is the first 16 weeks of its financial year.

Fuller's said trading momentum has continued, "with inflationary pressures easing, our margins are recovering".

Chief Executive Simon Emeny said: "I am delighted to see our sales growth momentum continue, particularly against the backdrop of easing inflation, which will help us to grow margins and profit, as well as revenue. You can feel the positivity across the business, with our team members working energetically to drive our continued success. We have had a strong start to the financial year, and we look forward to the opportunities the future will bring. We have a new UK government in place, and I urge Sir Keir Starmer to stand by his commitment to overhaul our archaic business rates system. The Labour Party has a clearly stated objective to grow the economy and the hospitality sector can be an excellent engine to help deliver that growth."

Stocks in New York are set for a mixed open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 are called up 0.1%, and the Nasdaq Composite down 0.1%.

XTB analyst Kathleen Brooks commented: "The political race has become much closer due to the resignation of Joe Biden. However, both candidates are known quantities, so whoever wins the race for the White House, the market, in some ways, knows what to expect. For example, Kamala Harris may continue the policies of Joe Biden, and everyone expects President Trump to cut taxes and to implement trade barriers. This could be beneficial if it means more semiconductors are made on American shores, but it could be negative if it stops other goods being sold abroad. Thus, politics could be less of a driver for markets for the rest of the summer now that the Democrats are back in the race."

On the corporate front, the analyst noted earnings from Alphabet are due after the closing bell in New York.

"The main concern is AI. Will this earnings season show that AI is generating profits and boosting corporate bottom lines, instead of being a constant drag on investment spend? Alphabet’s results later tonight are worth watching closely," Brooks added.

The pound traded at USD1.2893 early Tuesday afternoon, down from USD1.2913 at the time of the London equities close on Monday. Against the dollar, the euro faded to USD1.0861 from USD1.0881. Versus the yen, the dollar faded to JPY156.07 from JPY156.88.

Brent oil was quoted at USD82.13 a barrel, down slightly from USD82.15 at the time of the London equities close on Monday. Gold was quoted at USD2,407.35 an ounce, up against USD2,397.10.

[master rsi] 23/7/2024 13:12

UK needs £48bn more investment in wind and solar to decarbonise electricity grid
Proactive Investors - Solar and wind power need almost £50 billion of extra investment to fully decarbonise the UK electricity grid by 2030.

This is the latest benchmark power curve forecast from influential energy consultants Cornwall Insight, which shows that renewable energy power is on track to account for just 44% of electricity generation by the end of the decade, compared to the 67% needed.

On entering government, Labour pledged to deliver a zero-carbon power system by 2030, with a promise to double onshore wind, triple solar power and quadruple offshore wind capacity.

Cornwall says this will require adding 35GW to onshore wind (17GW above projected levels), 50GW to offshore wind (27GW above projections), and 55GW to solar (10GW above projections).

As well as the extra funding needed, Cornwall said the government and renewable industry is likely to also face supply chain issues, as well as a bottleneck of grid connections and port capacity.

A fully decarbonised power system will also demand a dramatic increase in battery energy storage, especially for longer duration storage and hydrogen, where the consultancy noted that pledges to increase capacity have not been followed by many firm commitments.

"While the underlying goal to decarbonise the power system is one that many would agree is crucial for the country’s future, the gap between our current trajectory and the new government’s 2030 target is substantial," said Tom Edwards, principal modeller at Cornwall Insight.

He suggested that the government could assist by increasing the attractiveness of the contracts for difference (Cfd) schemes for renewables by increasing budgets or strike price caps, which would be likely to draw in more developers and investors, "as the potential for better returns makes investing in GB a more attractive prospect".


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The government's swift action on lifting the de facto ban on onshore wind is "encouraging", he said, but added that "much more needs to be done to turn decarbonisation promises into a reality".

James Alexander, CEO of the UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association, says the industry knows there is more money "just waiting to be invested in the UK" as sustainable technologies are acknowledged as a necessary growth area for the future of energy.

But he said the slow planning system and inadequate grid capacity are diverting most of that investment abroad, with UKSIF research showing that 63% of UK energy companies have moved or plan to move investments out of the UK.

"Crowding in private capital through tactical deployments of public investment can be effective, as we have seen with the US' inflation reduction act, but creating the correct policy environment for investments to thrive is also crucial," Alexander said.

"In a time of escalating global tensions, minimising our reliance on gas imports is essential, and only private capital has the investing power to drive the transition and make the UK a green powerhouse.”

[soulsauce] 23/7/2024 12:59

KEEP an EYE
Katoro Res KAT. 0.0012p

Been a bit of a basket case and mkt cap is <£1m. A new interim Ceo has been put in place to turn around it's fortunes and gain shareholder value from existing projects. Could well do a Fcm on the right news. Dyor

[master rsi] 23/7/2024 12:51

How the UPS are performing during last month

[master rsi] 23/7/2024 12:30

How the UPS are performing today

[master rsi] 23/7/2024 12:16

HSS 7.30 v 7.40p

Moving higher at both sides and the last buy 150K almost paying the full offer 7.389p

[master rsi] 23/7/2024 11:49

GOLD it seems it wants to bounce back now +$11 to $2407

Intraday ---- Gold -------------- Silver ---------------- Copper -----


1 month ----- Gold ---------------- Silver --------------- Copper -----

[master rsi] 23/7/2024 10:50

BOOM 226.50p -13.50p Half-Year Report
Audioboom (AIM: BOOM), the leading global podcast company, announces its unaudited half-year results for the six months ended 30 June 2024.

Financial and operational KPIs

· H1 revenue of US$34.1 million, up 7% on H1 2023 (US$31.8 million)

· Adjusted EBITDA(1) profit of US$0.3 million (H1 2023: US$0.3 million) - Q2 represented the third successive quarter of positive adjusted EBITDA

· Record average quarterly eCPM (revenue per 1,000 downloads) in Q2 of US$60.09, up 38% (Q2 2023: US$43.55). Audioboom continues to maximise the value it extracts from downloads versus its peers

· Average Q2 brand advertiser count of 8,062 (Q2 2023: 8,042). Strategic pricing increases in our Showcase advertising product have limited access to lower-value brands, continuing our focus on high-quality monetisation

· Average Q2 global monthly downloads of 94.8 million (Q2 2023: 125.9 million). While Audioboom has added a number of new tier-1 podcasts to the creator network in the past year, Apple's iOS17 update in late 2023 has reduced and rebased download reporting materially across the wider podcast industry - decreasing by an average of 32% (2). We expect the impact of the iOS17 update to create more favourable long-term commercial conditions in the podcast industry due to the increased levels of return-on-investment that more accurate download data will deliver to advertisers

· The Company has in excess of US$65 million revenue for 2024 booked - more than total revenue for 2023 with more than five months of the year remaining

· Group cash at 30 June 2024 of US$3.5 million (31 March 2024: US$3.1 million), with a further US$1.9 million available via an undrawn overdraft

Commercial highlights

· Record H1 revenue from Showcase, our global advertising marketplace, reflecting the Company's continued progress in building key, scalable advertising technology. H1 2024 Showcase revenue of US$9.3 million, up 37% on H1 2023 (US$6.8 million). Showcase now contributes more than 27% to Group revenue (H1 2023: 21%)

· Audioboom consolidated its position as the fifth largest podcast network in the US on both the Triton Digital Ranker and the Edison Research Ranker. Since the start of the year Audioboom has moved from 2.2 million downloads behind the next ranked network Audacy, to 0.7 million downloads ahead of them in the June 2024 ranker - highlighting the performance of the Company relative to our competitors

· Key contracts renewed with leading podcasts in our creator network including: The Broski Report, Serialously, National Park After Dark, Nateland and Minds of Madness. These shows were downloaded more than 42 million times in H1 2024

· Further restructuring of creator contracts in this period has reduced Audioboom's annual minimum guarantee obligations by more than US$3 million

· New, top-tier podcasts signed to the Audioboom Creator Network including: Cancelled with Tana Mongeau, 13th Juror and Stavvy's World. These podcasts are expected to contribute more than 4 million monthly downloads or YouTube views to the network

· The Board continues to examine opportunities to maximise shareholder value including, amongst other initiatives, transactional opportunities and the option of Audioboom also being publicly listed in the US

1 Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation, share based payments, non-cash foreign exchange movements, material one-off items and onerous contract provisions and losses incurred

2 Podnews analysis of Apple iOS17 impact utilising Triton Digital download data

Stuart Last, CEO of Audioboom, commented:

"I'm pleased to report that Audioboom has continued to record positive results, with our third successive quarter of year-on-year revenue growth and our third successive quarter of adjusted EBITDA profitability. Our record eCPM - the value that we extract from every 1,000 downloads across our network - is market-leading, and highlights the work we have done to optimise our monetisation engine in order to extract maximum value from our podcasts.

We have delivered these results despite the double-whammy of the advertising market recession now being followed by deep cuts to our advertising inventory due to Apple's iOS17 update, which changed how listeners download content. These external impacts are frustrating - with the iOS17 change restricting our revenue in the first half of the year by an estimated US$9 million

Our revenue growth for H1 is in line with the Interactive Advertising Bureau's Podcast Revenue Study forecasts for the industry, and we do expect our growth rate to substantially improve across the second half of the year. We have more than US$65 million of advertising bookings in place - the same level as the entirety of last year's revenue - which means, with more than 5 months of the year remaining, all future bookings will translate directly to growth.

Showcase - our ad-tech driven marketplace - continues to build impressively. In June we delivered more than US$2 million of revenue through the product for the first time, and it now contributes more than 27% of our Group revenue. This performance is fuelled by our technology innovation as well as the early-stage work of our recently launched brand awareness sales unit.

I'm pleased to welcome hit shows like Cancelled and Stavvy's World to the Audioboom Creator Network, while we have also continued to build-out our political programming ahead of the US election - in the coming months podcasts like The Bulwark, Hacks on Tap and The Politics War Room will play an important role in guiding listeners through the campaign season.

I remain extremely optimistic about our future, and believe that the Company continues to be significantly undervalued. As such the Board are actively working to understand the benefits and requirements of listing Audioboom in the US in order to increase the valuation of the business, as well as assessing transactional opportunities to give the Company greater scale. I would like to express my appreciation to the Audioboom team for building our business so efficiently, and to thank shareholders for their continued support and belief in the future of the Company."

[master rsi] 23/7/2024 10:35

SMALL-CAP WINNERS & LOSERS: Ceres powers higher again; Fuller's rises
SMALL-CAP - WINNERS

Ceres Power Holdings PLC, up 4.7% at 209.36 pence, 12-month range 126.40p-431.80p. The stock extends gains from Monday, when it shot up 7.5%. The developer of clean energy technology had said Monday it won a manufacturing licence partnership with an Asia Pacific-based original equipment manufacturer. It also raised its revenue outlook.

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Fuller, Smith & Turner PLC, up 1.1% at 724.00 pence, 12-month range 540.00p-742.00p. The pub chain says inflation pressure is abating and its margins "are recovering". Like-for-like sales grow 5.3% in the 16 weeks to July 20. This is the first 16 weeks of its financial year. Fuller's said trading momentum has continued, "with inflationary pressures easing, our margins are recovering". Chief Executive Simon Emeny says: "I am delighted to see our sales growth momentum continue, particularly against the backdrop of easing inflation, which will help us to grow margins and profit, as well as revenue. You can feel the positivity across the business, with our team members working energetically to drive our continued success. We have had a strong start to the financial year, and we look forward to the opportunities the future will bring. We have a new UK government in place, and I urge Sir Keir Starmer to stand by his commitment to overhaul our archaic business rates system. The Labour Party has a clearly stated objective to grow the economy and the hospitality sector can be an excellent engine to help deliver that growth."

SMALL-CAP - LOSERS

Luceco PLC, down 2.3% at 165.20p, 12-month range 97.37p-195.00p. The lighting manufacturer and distributor says it has made a "strong start" to 2024, but "key industry metrics remain weak" and it makes a cost warning. Revenue in the first half of the year grows 8% to GBP109 million, it predicts. It expects to report adjusted operating growth of around 15% to GBP12.5 million. "The board is encouraged by the strong start to the year with performance expectations for the full year in line with market expectations," it says. "We continue to closely monitor the cost of container shipping, which has recently increased significantly. Key industry metrics remain weak, however, we remain confident that growth in our core markets will return in the not too distant future."

[master rsi] 23/7/2024 10:02

MTO 121p (-1.60 / -1.31%%) -- Mitie sees quarterly benefits from continued good trading momentum

Mitie Group PLC on Tuesday said revenue grew in its first quarter boosted by recent acquisitions, an increase in projects and variable work and pricing.

The London-based outsourcer said revenue in the three months to June 30 increased 11% to GBP1.16 billion from GBP1.05 billion a year prior.

Chief Executive Phil Bentley said the good trading momentum from last year has continued into the first quarter of financial 2025.

"We remain on track to deliver our high-single digit revenue growth expectations for the year," he added.

He noted double digit revenue growth from the Projects business, including the benefit from the previous year's acquisitions.

"Contract wins and renewals also remained high, following a record final quarter in [financial 2024], reinforcing the strength of our market leading, technology and data-rich capabilities," Bentley added.

This progress more than offset net contract losses and the completion of certain short-term public sector contracts in the prior year, the company added.

Revenue in Business Services rose 12% to GBP403 million from GBP360 million year-on-year; in Technical Services by 5.2% to GBP326 million from GBP310 million; in Central Government & Defence by 4.3% to GBP217 million from GBP208 million; and in Communities by 24% to GBP218 million from GBP175 million.

[master rsi] 23/7/2024 09:35

KEEP an EYE

IQE 31.50p

A good update today, also the Share price had a retrace till yesterday and is now ready to go better once again after the cycle is done and all the Indicators pointing up after bing at oversold.
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INDICATORS

[master rsi] 23/7/2024 09:16

GFRD 304p (-1p / -0.33%%) -- Galliford Try wins positions on NHS North of England framework

(Sharecast News) - Galliford Try announced on Tuesday that it has secured positions on the new £835m NHS North of England Commercial Procurement Collaborative (NOE CPC) specialist estates engineering and maintenance services (Hard FM) framework.

The London-listed company said the achievement included its asset intelligence, facilities management (FM), and Oak specialist services businesses, marking a significant win for the company.

It said the framework, which would span a four-year period, would cover nine lots including security systems, fire protection, and hard FM services.

The board said the success aligned with its strategic objectives, as outlined during its capital markets event in May, where it announced plans to target revenue and margin growth for its specialist services division through to 2030.

"We are delighted to have been selected by NOE CPC for this framework that aligns with our sustainable growth strategy goals of expanding our specialist services businesses," said chief executive officer Bill Hocking.

"We look forward to working with NOE CPC's clients to maximise the benefits from the framework for all the stakeholders involved."

[master rsi] 23/7/2024 09:02

MARKET REPORT
LONDON MARKET OPEN: Miners keep FTSE 100 in check; SAP up in Frankfurt
Tue, 23rd Jul 2024 08:53Alliance News

(Alliance News) - London's FTSE 100 started the day lower on Tuesday, as miners struggled, though it was a bullish start for Frankfurt's DAX 40, with SAP leading the charge.

The FTSE 100 index traded down 30.93 points, or 0.4%, at 8,167.85. The FTSE 250 was down 25.12 points, 0.1%, at 21,113.56, while the AIM All-Share was down 1.55 points, 0.2%, at 781.69.

The Cboe UK 100 was down 0.4% at 815.65, the Cboe UK 250 was 0.2% lower at 18,434.09, and the Cboe Small Companies was up 0.2% at 17,354.17.

The CAC 40 in Paris fell 0.3%, while Frankfurt's DAX 40 traded 0.4% higher.

Miners Glencore, Anglo American and Rio Tinto weighed on the FTSE 100, as investors track developments in China, a key region for the minerals sector. Glencore was down 1.7%, Anglo fell 1.4% and Rio lost 1.3%. The latter fell despite HSBC raising it to 'buy'.

In China, the Shanghai Composite traded down 0.7% on Tuesday. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong was 0.5% lower. Stocks struggled despite the People's Bank of China announcing a rate cut at the start of the week. Focus also remains on the closely watched third plenum of leaders in China.

"Officials seem to be hoping that this will help provide support to the housing market and catalyse more corporate borrowing, supporting overall growth. That looks a high bar to clear though given the weak Q2 activity data (specifically household consumption) and the continuing slide in credit extension. Like the Plenum, the rate cut decision is unlikely to move the growth or inflation dial," analysts at Lloyds Bank commented.

Back among London's large-caps, contract caterer Compass was 3.2% higher. It said "industry trends remain strong" as it reported an increase in revenue and raised growth guidance. In the third quarter ended June 30, organic revenue rose 10%.

"As expected, net new business growth accelerated in Q3, whilst pricing moderated in line with inflation. Volumes continued to benefit from the quality of our offer and the value gap compared to the high street," Compass said.

Compass added: "We are pleased with our third quarter performance. The group delivered good growth across all regions and benefited from improved net new business in line with our expectations. For the full year we now expect underlying operating profit growth to be above 15% on a constant-currency basis with organic revenue growth above 10%."

It had previously expected underlying operating profit growth "towards 15%" and an organic revenue rise "towards 10%".

Over in Frankfurt, SAP pushed 6.0% higher. It backed its 2024 guidance but raised its 2025 outlook.

For 2025, SAP now expects non-IFRS operating profit of approximately EUR10.2 billion up from around EUR10 billion before. The firm expects cloud revenue of more than EUR21.5 billion and total revenue of more than EUR37.5 billion.

At the other end of the DAX 40, however, Porsche fell 5.3%. It lowered its sales outlook for 2024, citing supply shortages.

The Stuttgart, Germany-based sports car manufacturer now expects sales revenue of between EUR39 billion and EUR40 billion, its outlook trimmed from a EUR40 billion to EUR42 billion range. This is still up at least 22% from revenue in 2023 of EUR31.84 billion.

Porsche said the outlook reduction is due to a "significant supply shortage with regard to special aluminium alloys".

"The supply shortage is the result of the flooding of a production facility of an important European aluminium supplier who has informed its customers in writing of the occurrence of a force majeure event. Affected are body components made of aluminium, which are used in all vehicle series manufactured by Porsche," it explained.

The pound traded at USD1.2914 early Tuesday, flat from USD1.2913 at the time of the London equities close on Monday. Against the dollar, the euro faded slightly to USD1.0878 from USD1.0881. Versus the yen, the dollar faded to JPY156.37 from JPY156.88.

US Vice President Kamala Harris appeared poised to clinch her party's presidential nomination after receiving support from enough Democratic delegates Monday, as she launched a blistering campaign against Donald Trump.

The formal nomination process for a US presidential candidate occurs when delegates from across the US gather to officially anoint a nominee chosen by voters during the primaries.

But when President Joe Biden dropped out of the race on Sunday, the fate of those delegates, who had been slated to vote for him, came into question.

With the support of a slew of Democratic heavyweights, including Biden himself, and massive voter donations, Harris quickly closed in as the Democratic Party's heir apparent, and delegates began falling in line to pledge their support.

"Tonight, I am proud to have secured the broad support needed to become our party's nominee," Harris wrote in a statement, after US media reported she had sailed past the number of delegates needed – 1,976 out of nearly 4,000 – in order to decisively secure the Democratic presidential nomination during voting in the coming weeks.

In New York on Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended up 0.3%, the S&P 500 added 1.1% and the Nasdaq Composite jumped 1.6%.

Google owner Alphabet and electric carmaker Tesla report after the closing bell in New York on Tuesday. Aside from offering some direction for major stock indices, the earnings could provide some impetus to foreign exchange markets, ING analysts said.

"In very quiet FX markets, one theme is whether US tech stocks can return to the highs after a rocky month. Alphabet and Tesla report after the bell today and decent earnings should stand to keep benign FX conditions in play," analysts at the Dutch bank explained.

The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo ended a touch lower, while the S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney ended up 0.5%.

Brent oil was quoted at USD82.41 a barrel, up from USD82.15 at the time of the London equities close on Monday. Gold was quoted at USD2,394.41 an ounce, down against USD2,397.10.

[master rsi] 23/7/2024 08:43

IQE 33.35p +2.70p -- Trading Update

- Trading in line with management expectations
- Strategic progress underpinned by continued revenue growth

IQE plc (AIM: IQE, "IQE" or the "Group"), the leading global supplier of compound semiconductor wafer products and advanced material solutions, provides a pre-close trading update for the six months ended 30 June 2024.

Revenue for the first half is expected to be at least £65m, in line with management expectations. This represents a year-on-year increase of at least 25% (H1 2023: £52.0m) and half-on-half growth of c.3% from H2 2023.

The Group expects to report its interim results on 10 September 2024.

Americo Lemos, Chief Executive Officer of IQE, commented:
"I am pleased with the performance we have delivered for H1, in an industry which will remain in recovery throughout 2024. As markets correct at varying paces, we remain confident in our diversification strategy which will enable us to take advantage of the growth opportunities ahead."

[master rsi] 23/7/2024 08:26

FTSE

Opening lower with 32 points