Business Weekly - Cambridge, UK

The vast majority of the BW index’s constituents have felt the pinch this week, with only a fifth of its companies showing gains, while almost as many have experienced losses in the double digits.

The damage is most apparent in the Big Ten, with builder’s merchant, Travis Perkins leading the way, losing 115p during the period after deepening uncertainty in the housing market led the firm to warn of a short-term growth slowdown.

Food producer, Premier stands at the other end of the spectrum, after gaining five per cent on news that it would report on its progress during the year on December 31. Risers are decidedly thin on the ground this week, with electronic instruments and protection equipment maker, MTL Instruments leading the way, gaining eight per cent or 51p on news of an approach made for the company. Regenerative medicine innovator, Intercytex also made healthy gains this week on an update that the company had made substantial headway in its clinical programmes during the year.

Leading the long list of fallers this week is home and business park builder, Kier, which has seen another seven per cent, or 110p stripped from its share price as the housing market and those associated with it continue to decline. Hi-tech innovators have also seen the worst of the falls, as alternative energy pioneer, ITM Power and PDX platform provider Pursuit Dynamics each  fell almost 20 per cent during the period despite both making announcements of substantial contracts with strong potential for the future.