MARKET REPORT: US tech investor takes 5% stake in GKN spin-off Dowlais

Shares in Dowlais rose after an American investor disclosed a stake within the engineering group.

Baltimore-based T Rowe Price owns 5.32 per cent of the GKN spin-off, in line with the most recent regulatory submitting. The US funding home additionally has stakes within the so-called ‘Magnificent Seven’ tech shares, together with Microsoft, Amazon and Tesla, that are Wall Street’s most useful corporations.

And it owns shares in London-listed companies corresponding to Next (up 0.8 per cent, or 70p, to 8470p), Shell (up 1.3 per cent, or 33p, to 2497p) and Unilever (up 1.2 per cent, or 48.5p, to 4029.5p).

In an additional dose of excellent information, Dowlais was handed a vote of confidence from the City.

Barclays stated the FTSE 250 firm ‘ticks the appropriate bins’ towards the highest standards that buyers will search for this yr, together with robust earnings momentum.

Stake: Baltimore-based T Rowe Price owns 5.32 per cent of GKN spin-off Dowlais

Analysts at Jefferies stated that Dowlais shares, which floated final yr, took a success from elements corresponding to US automobile makers happening strike. Dowlais produces drivetrain parts, successfully components that join a automobile’s engine to the wheels. With the inventory the most affordable in its business, the dealer believes buyers will drive up its worth. Shares gained 3 per cent, or 2.62p, to 90.52p.

Dowlais floated in London in April final yr as a standalone automotive firm after it was spun out of GKN by the blue-chip agency Melrose (flat at 610.8p), which has centered its consideration on the aerospace enterprise. Melrose purchased GKN for £8.1billion in 2018.

The FTSE 100 rose 1.5 per cent, or 114.18 factors, to 7711.71 and the FTSE 250 inched up 0.5 per cent, or 92.31 factors, to 19191.93.

The high index clocked up one among its greatest classes to this point this yr as hopes over rate of interest cuts in China lifted Asia-focused shares.

Insurer Prudential rose 3.3 per cent, or 26.8p, to 834.4p, and lender Standard Chartered elevated 2.4 per cent, or 13.8p, to 594.6p.

High copper costs boosted mining giants, with Rio Tinto up 3.5 per cent, or 187p, to 5515p, Antofagasta including 5.7 per cent, or 95.5p, to 1785p and Anglo American climbing 2 per cent, or 35.2p, to 1802.2p. But Petra Diamonds, one other miner, sank into the pink following a droop in gross sales. Shares slid 6.4 per cent, or 2.8p, to 41p.

There was some love proven in the direction of The Works after Kelso Group, which invests in small and mid-cap British corporations corresponding to THG (down 2.1 per cent, or 1.42p, to 67.28p) and Angling Direct (flat at 39p), purchased shares within the arts and crafts agency on Valentine’s Day.

It snapped up 345,000 shares at round 24.03p every, taking its stake to nearly 6pc.

Two Kelso administrators additionally took up seats on the board of The Works.

Shares in The Works rose 4.5 per cent, or 1.1p, to 25.65p and Kelso Group misplaced 1.6pc, or 0.05p, to 3p. Podcast writer Audioboom hit a milestone. Its podcasts had been downloaded by greater than 38.6m listeners worldwide in January, a month-to-month document. Shares, nevertheless, had been flat at 237.5p.

Centrica prolonged its beneficial properties a day after it reported that income at British Gas hit £751m final yr – up from £72m in 2022 – because the enterprise recouped cash misplaced through the vitality disaster. Shares added 2.1 per cent, or 2.9p, to 139.1p.

It was one other bruising session for Close Brothers. The service provider financial institution plunged 22.5 per cent on Thursday after it scrapped its dividend and warned of ‘vital uncertainty’ over the Financial Conduct Authority’s investigation into the potential misselling of automobile loans between 2007 and 2021. The inventory took one other tumble, falling 3 per cent, or 9.2p, to 299.2p.

On Thursday, animal genetics agency Genus warned that turmoil within the Chinese pig and dairy markets will hit income, wiping practically £230m off its worth. But yesterday shares rose 0.3 per cent, or 6p, to 1786p.