Trump’s Tariffs On The UK
Last week I mentioned the seasonal phenomenon of the market usually rallying from the beginning of November to the middle of February (Bonfire Night to Valentine’s Day). Normally this means selling out, or at least lightening the load in recent days. However, this week witnessed a 2% rise for the FTSE 100, and 1% rise for the small caps, so it appeared that we were still heading onwards and upwards towards 11,000 on the former. But as has happened periodically when markets hit the highs, President Trump has come in with an intervention which may at least temporarily spoil the party. While we are aware of TACO, Trump Always Chickens Out, hitting the world with a 10% tariff and the UK with a 15% one, is the kind of on a whim type move that does not help anyone, including the President himself. It may also not help the many UK small cap companies who of late have announced decent contract wins in the US.
This Week’s Risers
One of the most irksome thing about the London stock market is that it is not forward looking (apart from shares of Warpaint (W7L) rising the day before the UBS upgrade. How did that happen?) This is disappointing, especially given the way that the London market is always forward looking on the downside for shares. This brings me to the risers of the week, starting with Ascent Resources (AST). Shares of AST rose 36% on Friday. The backstory here is that we have been waiting on its Energy Charter Treaty claim against the Republic of Slovenia, with last month AST saying it expected that the Tribunal’s award on merits will be issued towards the end of Q1 2026. Clearly, some bright spark has realised we are approaching the end of the first quarter, and a €656m might make a decent difference to a company with a £3.6m market cap. How funny would it be if the claim was won, and we had the memory of the stock only having a micro market cap just a few weeks before. As I said, not forward looking at all. Chart wise the shares are in a price channel promising 0.65p by the end of next month, and closed above their 200 day moving average at 0.43p on Friday.
Aferian (AFRN) felt the benefit of Premier Miton exiting the stock, and rose another 88% on the week. Makes one wonder whether Miton should have stayed in, of the signal to buy was it exit. Nevertheless, with this overhang out of the way we can presumably look forward to the promised asset sales, and feel further benefit from the company extending its banking facilities. We have covered the rebound in the stock during the week on a technical basis. While there is clearly resistance around the 1p zone, if the stock can clear this year, the top of a falling trend channel from last year at 1.5p could be delivered in coming weeks.
It is always pleasing when a fundraise has a strong aftermath for a company. This has been the case at Jangada (JAN) after the £1.2m fundraise announced on February 11. The shares are now up to 2.2p, showing that the market is fully behind the Brazil focused natural resource development company, with its two gold projects there.
We may have someone backing Pri0r1ty Intelligence Group (PR1), the AI focused business delivering growth solutions to SMEs, with stakebuilding by Richard Deacon from 6% to 11. Last month the company announced an encouraging start to the current financial year (beginning 1 October 2025), with contracted revenue of over £0.5 million – already exceeding total revenue for FY25.
It was not only Ascent Resources (AST) rising on no new news, there were a plethora of intriguing risers this week, some of whom we may have an idea of why they are squeezing higher, and some not. The last significant news we had from Star Energy (STAR), the geothermal energy specialist was that of an investor presentation in December. Therefore, it was notable that the shares were up by a third this week. Last month’s trading update revealed that Surface Transforms (SCE), manufacturers of carbon fibre reinforced ceramic automotive brake discs, was experiencing a revenues spike and reduced losses. Some weeks later the shares were up by a third.
Also last month, CRISM Therapeutics Corporation (CRTX), a UK clinical-stage drug delivery company focused on the localised and sustained delivery of chemotherapy drugs, announced that it has been granted a patent (7800909) by the Japanese Patent Office. A month later the shares were up 27% this week. Manolete (MANO), a UK-listed insolvency litigation financing company, announced that it had experienced a strong first half, as long ago as November. We have clearly had a delayed reaction in recent days with the shares up 27% this week.
Finally, the market was perhaps not as impressed by the latest announcement from Wildcat (WCAT) regarding its move into gold. This was disappointing given that gold processing could yet be a money-spinner for the company, especially in the current $5,000 an ounce environment. It is also helped by the way that unlike most explorer / developers who are yet to find or produce gold, the implication is that WCAT could hit the ground running once it gets hold of a source of processing and a fundraise is out of the way next month. Once again, we are reminded that the London market prefers to look on the negative side, rather than the positive.
Disclaimer & Declaration of Interest:
The information, investment views, and recommendations in this Zaks Traders Cafe interview are provided for general information purposes only. Nothing in this interview should be construed as a promotion or solicitation to buy or sell any financial product relating to any companies under discussion or referred to or to engage in or refrain from doing so or engage in any other transaction. Any opinions or comments are made to the best of the knowledge and belief of the commentator but no responsibility is accepted for actions based on such opinions or comments. The commentators may or may not hold investments in the companies under discussion.
