Business Weekly - Cambridge, UK

The NASDAQ rose 1.7 per cent and the London Stock Exchange’s TechMARK 0.8 per cent over the same period.

The Index was hit by three companies reporting disappointing news. Blueetooth chip market leader, CSR reported an increase in revenue and profits for the third quarter but issued a further warning on the slowdown in the fourth quarter of this year due to a move to lower-end mobile phone handsets that come without its Bluetooth technology.

Acambis, meanwhile announced that it can no longer win a key contract from the US government to supply large amounts, maybe $300m worth, of its smallpox vaccine.

To add salt to the wound, analysts predict that the contract will go to Acambis’ fierce rival, both commercially and in the courts, Bavarian Nordic.

Cambridge Display Technol-ogy, after a series of weekly rises early in the life of the Index, has succumbed to its generally downward trend. Its shares are currently worth less than half as much as they were this time last year

The company, which is commercialising organic displays announced third quarter sales well down on the comparative period of 2005. These three companies fell by 15 per cent, 36 per cent and 18 per cent respectively.

Even a positive announcement about developments in the technology could do little to mitigate the effects of its falling revenues.

Sub-penny share Sareum increased by over a quarter, but the most meaningful riser as far as the index is concerned, was ITM Power, which signed an MoU with Hydrogen Engine Center Inc, a US company that designs, manufactures and distributes alternative fuel internal combustion engines; and CAD company, AVEVA, which managed to almost double its profits.

ITM power was up 15.6 per cent on the week while AVEVA was up 8.3 per cent to a new year-high.