Scottish Mortgage share price dips as Tencent comes under pressure

Liam Roche
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0
Scottish Mortgage share price dips as Tencent comes under pressure

Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust Share Price

The Scottish Mortgage share price is down by 0.87% following a further crackdown by China on its technology sector which caused a drop in the share price of Tencent, one of the fund’s prominent holdings. The set back comes as Scottish Mortgage was beginning to establish some momentum following a sharp fall towards the beginning of the year.

Over the past month the Scottish Mortgage share price is up by 1.65%, while since the beginning of the year the FTSE 100 company has added 9.36%. With 18.68% of the fund – 5.83% being Tencent – consisting of Chinese companies, investors may be concerned over the measures taken by the government, and what it means for the Scottish Mortgage share price.

Tencent

Over the weekend, the State Administration of Market Regulation (SAMR), China’s market regulator, announced that it was blocking Tencent from acquiring copyright agreements with labels, as well as fining the company £56,000 with regard to its previous acquisition of China Music Corporation in 2016.

The regulator said Tencent would have received an unfair competitive advantage.

As a result of the ruling, Tencent will lose exclusive music deals with major labels including Universal Music Group, Sony Music and Warner Music.

Another of Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust’s major holdings, Alibaba, also came under pressure, receiving a $2.8bn for abusing its market power.

The Tencent share price closed 7.72% on 26 July, while the Alibaba share price has fallen by 4.14%.

The Scottish Mortgage share price, along with other China and emerging markets-focused investment firms, have taken hits as the Chinese government comes down on big tech. It could cause investors to consider the pros and cons of investing in the region moving forward.

Bitcoin soars overnight as short sellers feel the squeeze and Amazon rumours continue

Liam Roche
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0
Bitcoin soars overnight as short sellers feel the squeeze and Amazon rumours continue

The price of bitcoin surged by 11.07% overnight, reaching its highest point in over one month, above £28,000.

It follows a reversal in the crypto market to a more bullish sentiment following mass sell-offs across April, May and June.

Bitcoin’s rally coincided with other cryptocurrencies, including Ether, up by 8.14% in the past 24 hours, and Chainlink, up 14.47%.

While it is not immediately obvious what caused the upwards surge, there are a few contending possible factors.

Firstly, there is the ‘B’ word conference which caused an initial spike, as Jack Dorsey, Cathie Wood and Elon Musk discussed bitcoin’s credentials in front of the world.

Last night’s move could be a continuation in the momentum established after Musk made a series of revelations regarding his rocket company SpaceX, bitcoin and a potential u-turn by Tesla.

Then there are rumours continuing to circulate that major business institutions are set to take steps to incorporate bitcoin into their operations.

It has been reported elsewhere that Amazon is planning to accept bitcoin payments by the end of 2021, in addition to exploring the possibility of creating a token of its own.

“This isn’t just going through the motions to set up cryptocurrency payment solutions at some point in the future – this is a full-on, well-discussed, integral part of the future mechanism of how Amazon will work,” a source told City AM.

“It begins with Bitcoin – this is the key first stage of this crypto project, and the directive is coming from the very top… Jeff Bezos himself.”

Another possible cause is investors, who are short on bitcoin, betting the price off the cryptocurrency would fall further.

Such investors, when the price goes higher against their expectations, are forced to cut their losses and exit their positions.

“I think the extent of the jump was probably driven by over-leverage shorts,” said Vijay Ayyar, head of business development at cryptocurrency exchange Luno.

Monument Therapeutics raises £2.625m in seed funding from o2h Ventures

Liam Roche
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4
Monument Therapeutics raises £2.625m in seed funding from o2h Ventures

Monument Therapeutics will focus on applying digital biomarkers to neuroscience drug development

Monument Therapeutics, the stratified medicine company, confirmed on Monday that it has raised £2.625m in seed funding to spin out of Cambridge Cognition.

The new company’s focus will be on applying digital biomarkers to neuroscience drug development with the aim of matching patient sub-groups with approximately targeted compounds.

Monument Therapeutics applies a novel drug development strategy, leveraging digital assessments of cognition to match patients with new pharmaceutical treatments.

The company has a pipeline of promising drug development programmes, with the most advanced two being for cognitive impairment in schizophrenia and post-operative cognitive dysfunction (“POCD”).

Schizophrenia affects around 20m people across the world, however there are no approved treatments for the common and disabling cognitive impairment associated with the disorder.

POCD is a condition arising from major surgery, which can result in cognitive impairment for patients over the age of 65 both immediately (50-80% at discharge) and persistently (10-30% six months post-surgery). Almost 250m major surgical procedures are performed globally every year but there is no dedicated treatment for POCD.

In both approaches, Monument Therapeutics is de-risking development by repurposing drugs with a favourable safety profile and proven mechanisms of action, and combining these with proprietary cognitive stratification tools licensed from Cambridge Cognition.

To develop these programmes as an independent company, Monument Therapeutics has secured £2.625m in funding from a consortium of experienced technology and life science investors led by Catapult Ventures’ Greater Manchester and Cheshire Life Sciences Fund and Neo Kuma Ventures, with participation from o2h Ventures, Wren Capital, and angel investors.

Jenny Barnett, Cambridge Cognition’s Chief Scientific Officer, who has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer of Monument Therapeutics, said: “A major challenge when developing drugs for patients with psychiatric and neurological conditions is that clinical diagnoses are usually imprecise: two people with the same diagnosis may have little overlap in their biology or symptoms.”

“Fortunately, digital phenotyping can help to stratify these patients, much as areas such as oncology have done with genetic testing. In pursuit of this goal, Monument Therapeutics has put together a team with deep drug development knowledge coupled with unique digital biomarker expertise to bring innovative stratified treatments to market. We are grateful to Cambridge Cognition for incubating the company and for the funding received from the incoming investors.”

Heathrow calls on UK government to open up following $4bn in losses

Liam Roche
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0
Heathrow calls on UK government to open up following $4bn in losses

Heathrow expecting pent-up demand for holidays to bring passenger levels up to 21.5m people in 2021

Heathrow Airport has called upon the UK government to open travel to to passengers who have been vaccinated as its pandemic-induced losses reached £2.9bn.

Prior to the pandemic, Heathrow was one of the busiest airports in Europe. However, during the first half of 2021, fewer than 4m people travelled via the London airport. The number would have been surpassed in less than three weeks in 2019.

The airport is expecting pent-up demand for holidays to bring about a surge in passenger levels, up to 21.5m people, for the remainder of 2021.

During the fist six months of 2021, Heathrow’s revenue came in at £348m, down from £712m compared to the same period in 2020, meaning its loss before tax increased by 18% to just over £1bn.

Heathrow also revealed it had increased liquidity to £4.8bn.

The airport said that changes to the quarantine and testing requirements for passengers arriving in the UK were “encouraging”, however it said the rules for international travellers are continuing to hold back the UK economy from making a full recovery.

The airport has called upon the UK government to open it up to tourists who have been vaccinated from both Europe and the US.

The airport’s chief executive John Holland-Kaye, said: “Replacing PCR tests with lateral flow tests and opening up to EU and US vaccinated travellers at the end of July will start to get Britain’s economic recovery off the ground.”

“The European markets not only are open with each other, but they’ve also opened up to the United States, which they see as being a relatively low-risk country,” said Mr Holland-Kaye. “They’re allowing people who have been double-vaccinated to come from the US. That’s seen a massive uplift in the number of travellers from there.”

FTSE 100 makes sluggish start to jam-packed week ahead

Liam Roche
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0
FTSE 100 makes sluggish start to jam-packed week ahead

The FTSE 100 faltered on Monday morning, down 0.4% to 6,9931, after mixed trading in Asia overnight linked to a further crackdown by China on its technology sector.

“This set a downbeat tone to what could be a defining week for the markets as some of the biggest US companies report their second quarter earnings and the US Federal Reserve delivers its latest update on interest rates and financial stimulus,” says AJ Bell financial analyst Danni Hewson.

“That meeting on Wednesday isn’t expected to see any rate increase but could see at least the suggestion of a tapering of support for the economy as the Fed weighs inflation risks,” Hewson added.

A second estimate of US GDP for the second quarter will also draw attention later in the week, while a number of major UK companies are set to report, including the banks.

“Expectations for the UK banking sector have been lifted in recent weeks by a strong showing from their American cousins and the decision to give them the green light to start paying dividends again. These heightened expectations could be tough to match.”

FTSE 100 Top Movers

Miners Antofagasta (1.64%), Rio Tinto (1.64%) and Anglo American (1.16%) are leading the way on the FTSE 100 one Monday.

While trailing the pack of UK companies is HSBC (-1.83%), Standard Chartered (-1.74%) and Vodafone (-1.62%).

Castillo Copper returns up to 9% copper in Big One Deposit assays

Liam Roche
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0
Castillo Copper returns up to 9% copper in Big One Deposit assays

Castillo Copper share price well down during morning session

Castillo Copper Limited (LON:CCZ) confirmed on Monday that the initial assays for drill-holes BO_315-317RC returned up to 9.19% Cu and verified extensions to known mineralisation at the Big One Deposit in Mt Isa’s copper-belt.

Additionally, visual inspection of samples from drill-holes BO_322-27RC identified further copper mineralisation, with the best intercept of 26m found in BO_326RC.

The Castillo Copper share price is down by 8.37% during the morning session on Monday following the announcement.

https://twitter.com/CastilloCopper/status/1419549304688099329?s=20

Highlights

  • Initial assays for drill-holes BO_315-317RC verify up to 9.19% Cu and clearly extends known mineralisation – the best intercepts are summarised below:
    • 9m @ 1.42% Cu from 88m including 4m @ 3.06% Cu from 92m & 1m @ 9.19% Cu from 92m (BO_317RC)
    • 5m @ 1.06% Cu from 141m (BO_316RC)
    • 3m @ 1.22% Cu from 65m (BO_315RC)

Encouragingly, visual inspection shows new drill-holes have potentially intersected copper mineralisation up to 26m – the best intercepts are shown in Figure 1:

Figure 1: Best Intercepted Mineralisation

Borehole From (m)To (m)Apparent Thickness (m)
BO_322RC5773.516.5
BO_323RC829715.0
BO_324RC415312.0
BO_326RC13416026.0
BO_327RC60688.0
BO_327RC81908.0
BO_327RC90999.0

Assays for samples from priority drill-holes BO_318RC1 & BO_326RC, which exhibited visual copper intercepts up to 34m & 26m respectively, should be back shortly as the laboratory is fast-tracking the analysis

  • Holistically, a closer examination of the initial assay results by Castillo’s geology team, highlights the following interpretations:
    • Factoring the new data points into the preliminary geological model for the Big One Deposit suggests the underlying system is larger than initially envisaged;
    • There is now increasing evidence that copper mineralisation is potentially structural as it extends beyond the trachyte/dacite dyke; and
    • Using geophysics has enabled significantly better targeting and, in turn, optimised the results of the drilling campaign so far

Simon Paull, Managing Director of Castillo Copper, said: “It is encouraging there is a strong correlation between visual mineralisation and the assays, as the Board optimistically looks forward to receiving further results. Otherwise, the progress of the drilling campaign is taking shape, especially verification the underlying copper system at the Big One Deposit is likely to be larger than our geology team’s initial expectations.”

Castillo Copper is an Australian-based explorer, primarily focused on copper across Australia and Zambia.

This Disruptive Technology share now has a game changing application

UK Investor Magazine
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0
This Disruptive Technology share now has a game changing application

Unless you are of school age you may have already heard this company say that before… . For over twenty years it has been specialising in suppling and developing technologies that make plastic and rubber products smarter, safer, and sustainable. It’s a big sector to play in and there have been disappointments along the way but at last new approvals make the development of mass market application seem an inevitable game changer.
Last year the U.S. Food & Drug Administration, [FDA] approval its d2p additive for its antimicrobial food contact technology packaging allowing it to be used in wr...

Ryanair raises forecast for passenger numbers amid heavy Q1 loss

Liam Roche
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0
Ryanair raises forecast for passenger numbers amid heavy Q1 loss

Ryanair posted a €273m loss for the quarter between April and June

Ryanair (LON:RYA) confirmed a sharp rise in bookings while the low budget airline raised its forecast for passenger numbers over the coming year as travel restrictions are being eased across the continent.

However, the Irish company posted a €273m loss for the quarter between April and June, as lockdowns meant the majority of flights were cancelled amid ongoing caution.

A year ago, Ryanair recorded a €185m loss during the same Q1 period.

Ryanair carried 8.1m passenger during Q1, up from 0.5m in the same period in 2020, when the pandemic was well and truly underway.

The airline was faced with soaring operating costs of €675m, while it managed to bring its revenue up to €370m.

The low budget airline said its mini-recovery was thanks to vaccinations, as well as the easing of isolation rules for travellers who have taken the vaccine, and the EU’s digital travel pass which the EU introduced at the beginning go July.

These factors have given Michael O’Leary, the chief executive of Ryanair, a degree of confidence over a sustained recovery for the industry, after the pandemic continued to test his company throughout the pandemic.

With a surge in bookings coming from continental Europe, Ryanair will increase its number of flights in operation during the end of summer.

While the airline is still facing challenging circumstances, it suggested that it will end the fiscal year “somewhere between a small loss and breakeven” as restrictions are there to stay for now.

Danni Hewson, financial analyst at AJ Bell, added:

“Could a last minute rush rescue Ryanair’s year? While the summer has been heavily affected by the continued strict restrictions on travel throughout Europe, the company is seeing notably higher bookings both for late summer holiday bookings and the winter,” Hewson said.

“This demonstrates how resilient demand for foreign holidays remains, particularly among the fully vaccinated cohort which now have a little more freedom to travel.”

“If people are booking now given all the uncertainty and hassle involved in flying then you could imagine a more rapid ascent when, hopefully, we finally emerge from the pandemic.”

The Ryanair share price is up by 3.56% during the morning session on Monday.

New AIM admission: Zenova’s fire retardant IP is not a flame proof investment

Andrew Hore
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0
New AIM admission: Zenova’s fire retardant IP is not a flame proof investment

Zenova Group has developed fire extinguisher fluids and fire retardant paints that can be applied to many types of surface. Increasing fire regulation will provide opportunities for Zenova.
The global fire resistant coatings market is estimated to be worth $933m and there is scope for the technology to be used in other coatings that are not currently fire retardant. The insulating paint market is current valued at around $9bn.The fire extinguisher market is expected to grow at 4.6% a year and reach $8.3bn in 2027. There is also potential for ceiling sprinklers.
The marketing focus is construct...

New standard listing: Sivota seeking Israeli technology deal

Andrew Hore
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0
New standard listing: Sivota seeking Israeli technology deal

Sivota is a shell that wants to acquire Israel-based technology businesses, although it will assess companies in other countries. The important person in the set-up is Ziv Ben-Barouch, who has decades of experience in assessing and investing in technology companies, most recently through Pereg Ventures.
This is a tiny company and will have to raise much more cash if it finds a deal. Even due diligence on technology companies can be costly. It could take a while to find a suitable target. The prospectus states that investors will not be asked whether the company should continue or be wound up –...

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