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FTSE 100 recovers lost ground as US trade buoys sentiment

Published: 03:33 22 May 2014 AEST

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FTSE100 was a see-saw midweek, ending a day 19 points up, which had earlier seen it in the red.

The blue chip benchmark closed at 6.821 - up 19,04 points as it was boosted by positive vibes from Wall Street.

There, the Dow was up an imprssive 137 points, while Nasdaq was up 25 and S&P up11.

AstraZeneca and Sports Direct were both among big gainers on Footsie, while Morrison (LON:MRW) languished at the bottom most of the day.

It was downgraded to 'sell' by Deutsche Bank after a rally that has seen the share price rise 10% in the past two weeks.

It has out-performed Tesco by 3% and Sainsbury's  (on a total  return basis) by 1% over the same period -  gains that are not supported by news flow or fundamental valuation, said the broker.

Meanwhile, in the small caps, there were some notable gainers.

SeaEnergy (LON:SEA) shares went over 8% as its recently established subsidiary SeaEnergy Ship Management (SEASM) was awarded its first ship management contract.

The SEASM team will be responsible for the management of the crew, provisions and technical support of the MV Surf Ranger, which recently arrived in the UK sector of the North Sea after being acquired by a subsidiary of Otto Marine of Singapore.

Otto owns and operates one of the largest fleet of offshore support vessels and has a worldwide presence. SEASM and Otto are in discussions regarding the ship management of other Otto vessels that may be operating in the North Sea and Europe in the future.

Northcote Energy (LON:NCT) rose 4.35% as it said it was to monetise additional gas associated with its oil production operations at the Zink Ranch property.

Gas flows have been on the rise at Zink Ranch since the first four of 14 planned well work-overs were completed.

Wentworth Resources (LON:WRL) added 6.63% as it reminded investors today that the first of two potentially high impact exploration wells in Mozambique will get underway next month.

The Anadarko operated Tembo-1 well is a key catalyst for Wentworth, which is otherwise awaiting the completion of a gas pipeline to the north in Tanzania.

Drilling of the second well, Kifaru-1, will follow the completion of Tembo-1.

President Energy (LON:PPC) was boosted after chairman Peter Levine increased his stake in the company to 19.38%, with the purchase of 250,000 shares at a price of 30p each on May 20.

This topping up comes ahead of a hotly anticipated drill programme in Paraguay.

On the flipside, Summit (LON:SUMM) edged down 6.25% after it reported the preliminary results from the phase 1B clinical trial of SMT C1100, its treatment for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DCM).

The company said the drug was safe and well tolerated, and patients saw a reduction in the enzyme associated with the wasting disease.

Another drug discovery firm in retreat was ImmuPharma (LON:IMM) after releasing its results for 2013. Investors might have been expecting news on a financing deal or partner agreement for the firm’s flagship compound, Lupuzor, but the group is still pondering its options.

The group ended 2013 with £5.4mln in cash, down from £8.9mln a year earlier, while it has yet to draw on the £50mln equity financing facility it signed with Darwin Strategic Limited in May of last year. The healthy cash position gives the company a lot of flexibility in terms of the development of Lupuzor, its treatment for Lupus.

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