Gloomy economic data did little to suppress London stocks this week, as a bumper performance across the board saw a heap of winners emerge on AIM.
Several companies racked up triple-digit percentage gains on the junior market, headed by Fiinu and its even more impressive quadruple-digit percentage surge.
Shares in the fintech skyrocketed 1,560 per cent to reach 8.3p come Friday, boosted by Wednesday’s unveiling of a first deal for its flagship product with an independent UK bank.
Plugin Overdraft, Fiinu’s AI white-label Banking-as-a-Service platform, would be incorporated into the bank’s treasury, regulatory reporting and accounting systems, it said.
Once launched, Fiinu would receive royalty fees from the bank’s audited profits, with chief executive Marko Sjoblom flagging the strategic collaboration as ‘a pivotal step’.
News of a collaboration also saw Trellus Health shares soar, this time by 199 per cent to 2.36p over the week.
In partnership with Johnson & Johnson Health Care Systems Inc, its digital platform, Trellus Elevate, would be piloted in the US.
Patients with moderate to severe inflammatory bowel disease would be supported via the platform, which integrates data analytics with personalised resilience programs to aid against emotional and physical challenges of chronic conditions.
In turn, Trellus was set to receive an upfront licensing fee and a fixed monthly management fees during the one-year trial.
Several companies racked up triple-digit percentage gains on the junior AIM market
Quantum Blockchain Technologies was among the triple-digit risers too, jumping 122 per cent to 1.75p after gracing investors with an update on its Bitcoin mining technology.
Method C AI Oracle was now capable of real-time mining on current blockchain blocks, it announced Friday, with the technology having previously been trialled with historic data.
‘Following almost three years of R&D efforts, the AI team working on Method C has delivered its first irrefutable result,’ chief executive Francesco Gardin noted.
Outperformance in terms of energy consumption and an acceleration in mining speeds was recorded, equating to a 30 per cent improvement versus standard mining technology.
It was a broadly strong week for London-listed companies, as albeit sluggish economic data but news of subsiding inflation fuelled bets for a February interest rate cut.
Office for National Statistics data on Wednesday showed headline inflation subsided from 2.6 to 2.5 per cent in December.
Figures on Thursday then showed the UK economy grew slower than expected by 0.1 per cent in November.
Though continuing to paint a dreary picture, the figures aligned to open the door for a Bank of England rate cut next month, which analysts said was all but set in stone.
Equities rallied as a result, with the FTSE 100 heading towards the weekend 2.9 per cent higher and reaching a new all-time record intraday high of 8,489 on Friday morning.
Mid-caps enjoyed an even stronger showing, with the FTSE 250 up 4.3 per cent, while the junior market also surged as the AIM 100 gained almost 1 per cent and All-Share index added 0.7 per cent.
Hoards of risers on the junior market saw several rack up hefty gains, not least Celadon Pharmaceuticals with a 60 per cent increase to 28.8p.
Celadon flagged a supply deal with Denmark’s Valeos on Thursday, paving the way for it to meet a German medical cannabis contract signed just over a year ago.
Some £26 million in revenue was expected from the three-year German contract, coming in the nick of the time after Celadon in January said it only had a cash runway until March.
T42 IoT Tracking Solutions was among others, soaring 52 per cent after the global shipping containers monitoring firm unveiled a US$5.2 million contract in Latin America.
Resolution of a long-standing dispute with the Department of Health and Social Care over lateral flow tests saw Cambridge Nutritional Sciences gain almost 24 per cent.
Blue Star Capital was also the week’s biggest rises at 7.32p and up 202 per cent, though it said Monday this was for reasons unbeknown to the investment firm.
Sirius Real Estate Ltd shares picked up 7.4 per cent in the meantime after it pointed to robust investor support for a €350 million bond issuance.
Elsewhere, Futura Medical climbed 6.7 per cent on positive results from a sensory study of WSD4000, its gel treatment for female sexual dysfunction.
AIM still faced its share of pressure though, after having grappled with an exodus of company departures last year, with Deltex Medical Group dropping 41 per cent as it became the latest to signal plans for an exit on Thursday.
Gift wrap and greeting card maker IG Design Group headed the junior market’s fallers in the meantime, sliding 60 per cent on a Friday profit warning, where it cited ‘challenging market conditions’.
Indeed, wider challenges saw AIM face another underperformance against its larger counterparts as the prospect of rate cuts appeared to only partially offset ongoing woes around the likes of high borrowing costs and low sentiment which have gripped recently.
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