Fortunately, February didn’t begin where January left off for the FTSE 100 (FTSEINDICES: ^FTSE), which at the end of last week posted a third straight day of gains. Before this late bright spell, the market had been on a five day losing streak, as slowing growth in China and the withdrawal of US monetary stimulus set investors’ nerves jangling.
We begin the new week somewhat flat, with the FTSE 100 so far adding only 5 points, to 6577, this morning. Economic data from the US is mixed, ahead of forward guidance from Federal Reserve chief Janet Yellen, with many hoping for a pause in the reductions of bond purchasing.
These are the shares that did well last week:
Aberdeen Asset Management
Companies with exposure to emerging markets have been hit hard of late. Aberdeen Asset Management (LSE: ADN) — an emerging markets specialist — has suffered particularly badly. At the beginning of the week Aberdeen was down 14p to 377p, having suffered recently as a result of Argentina’s central bank abandoning its policy of supporting the peso.
However, the panic sell-off, for the time being, appears to be over. The shares rose by 11% by the end of last week, adding 43p to 420p.
Petra Diamonds
Petra Diamonds (LSE: PDL) announced last week that it is to start paying a dividend once its finished with major capital expenditure programmes at its Finsch and Cullinan mines. The company, with a market cap of around £750 million, recently detailed a 19% rise in revenue for the six months ended December 31st.
Petra, which has seven mines in South Africa and one in Tanzania, revealed that a 30 carat blue diamond unearthed at the Cullinan mine should help it to strong second-half revenue. The shares increased by nearly 9% to 149p.
Tullow Oil
Bid speculation saw shares in Tullow Oil (LSE: TLW) spike 8% last week. Statoil, the Norway-based energy company, is the speculated suitor. Tullow has long been seen as a potential takeover target following a number of disappointing updates last year.
Despite the bid gossip being somewhat old news — 1,400p per share is the latest figure discussed — traders were nonetheless excited (it doesn’t take much to get them going) and Tullow’s shares ended the week on 837p.
