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Shares in the UK's only legal cannabis grower, GW Pharmaceuticals, stood out with a rise of 7p to 83p today after successfully raising almost £7 million.
The American company Great Point Partners has agreed to subscribe for 7.6 million new shares at 78p. At the same time, its largest institutional shareholder M&G Investment Management has bought a further 900,000 shares at the same price to prevent its current holding from being diluted.
GW grows cannabis plants at secret locations around the UK and then uses the drug to make medicines for the treatment of symptoms in multiple sclerosis. In clinical trials, the drug Savitex is sprayed under the tongues of MS patients who fail to respond to existing therapies. Savitex can also be used to curb the pain experienced by cancer sufferers. If it is eventually approved it will marketed in this country by Germany's Bayer and in Europe by Spain's Almirall. Trials are also planned for the US.
After yesterday's pause for breath, shares continued to make headway again today with the FTSE 100 Index adding 48.3 to 4695.4. That will put pressure on Harry Hedge Fund and his mates who turned seller of the market a few days ago in the belief that it had run too far too soon. But good news on the housing and manufacturing fronts has indicated that the economic recovery may be already under way.
But while there may be faint signs of revival in UK housing, there are no such signs in the commercial property market, which could be why the Japanese broking house Nomura is taking a more cautious view of propsects.
It has downgraded the real estate investment trust sector from bullish to neutral following major cash raising exercises by most of its constituents in recent months which have been used to repair their balance sheets.
Hammerson, 0.1p firmer at 376.5p, and rival Derwent London, down 6p at 1009p, have been downgraded from buy to neutral with Liberty
International, up14¾p at 482p, cut to reduce. It has tweaked British Land's target price 15p higher to 366p and Great Portland's from 255p to 270p. Derwent's target goes up from 932p to 1017p. British Land traded 14.6p higher at 480.1p, while Great Portland was 8.8p dearer at 256.2p.
Unilever led blue chips higher with a jump of 84p to 1629p following better than expected results.
Brokers have begun to return their verdicts on yesterday's results from Lloyds Banking Group, up a further 3¼p at 96¼p. The broking arm of Swiss bank UBS has a buy rating on the shares and has increased its target from 107p to 120p, which matches the average price the Government paid for its original stake. But Deutsche Bank has dropped Lloyds from buy to hold while Exane has moved from neutral to underperform but has raised its target from 60p to 80p which remains well shy of the current share price. S&P Equity Research has upgraded from sell to hold. The shares have risen fourfold since hitting their low of 30p back in March, when the bank continued to negotiate with the Government over whether to participate in its asset protection scheme.
In New York, Wall Street beat a retreat as investors turned sellers in the face of evidence that the economic recovery may have stalled. The latest survey from the service sector showed a contraction in new orders last month, while private employers cut more jobs than had been expected. The Dow Jones ended the session 39.22 down at 9280.97.
Banks drew some comfort from results at Lloyds Banking Group. Citigroup rose 3.5% to $3.47, while Bank of America was up 5.6% to $16.52 and Wells Fargo 3.8% to $27.51.
In Tokyo, leading shares hit a new 10-month closing high, buoyed by gains in Honda Motor and other carmakers, but gains were capped by the latest US economic news which indicated that the recovery may be more shaky than hoped.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 135.56 to 10,388.09. It hit a 10-month high of 10,479.19 on Tuesday, when it also marked a 10-month closing high of 10.375.01.
Over in Hong Kong, shares picked up after a slow start. The Hang Seng ended the morning session 99.02 higher at 20,593.79.
Chinese bulk carriers dropped tracking an overnight fall in the main gauge for sea freight. China COSCO fell 2.9% to HK$11.40, while China Shipping Development sank 3.1%, following yesterday's 3.4% drop in the Baltic Dry index.
