London's blue-chip benchmark remained in positive territory at the bell on Wednesday, following a strong performance from gas utility Lattice, after the industry regulator shelved plans to tighten its profits regime. By the close of trading, the FTSE 100 had improved by 52.5 points to 5607.9 as techMARK edged up by 19.1 points to 1754.70. On Aim, a number of small stocks headed the field as software developer TransEDA was affected by a profit warning.

Penny stocks led the pack in percentage terms, with cash shell Abinger Investments clipping ahead by 25 per cent to 1.25p in early trading, after major shareholder Everett Financial Management reduced its stake to 3.13 per cent by selling 1.425 million shares at 0.25p to its clients. Abinger raised £920,000 in a placing of 92 million shares at 1p and is chaired by small company expert Stephen Barclay, who owns 5.94 per cent of the company.

In its slipstream was another cash shell, Harrogate, which gained a quarter of a penny, or 20 per cent at 1.5p. Harrogate is chaired by another small company mover and shaker, Bob Holt, the chairman of another Aim-listed concern, Mears. And food producer Bakery Services completed the penny share push, also sparking up a quarter to 1.25p. Shares in COUNTYWEB.com sparkled by 0.75p to 7.25p, following the revelation that shareholder Suffolk Life Annuities had increased its stake in the company to 4.17 per cent.

TransEDA falls on US Xilinx warning

The uplift on techMARK did little for UK integrated circuit group TransEDA, which gave up 2p to 37.5p on a profit warning from American competitor US Xilinx. Speculation is rife that demand for the company's software might suffer as orders for programmable devices dry up. Also heading south was nursing home operator Matrix Healthcare, which softened by 0.5p to 20p, a new 2001 low, despite returning to profit in the six months to March. The company posted a pre-tax profit of £10,000, compared with losses of £65,000, as gross profit margins jumped from 15 per cent to 22 per cent, on static sales of £1.43 million. The market was unimpressed because the board admitted that 'it is unlikely that the current uncertainties in the nursing home sector will be resolved until after April 2002', when the Care Standards Act 2000 and the Health and Social Care Act 2001 take effect.

Results buoyed a number of stocks today. Comeleon sparked up by 5p to 155p after receiving the news that response to its e-comeleon process, which applies digital images onto 3D consumer products, had been very encouraging. The comments came as the group, which floated as recently as December, posted widening interim losses from £46,364 to £1.29 million on sales of £56,000. Chief executive Roy Stanley explained that in the short term the group would focus on mobile phone covers before covering a wider range of products, such as electronic organisers and computer mice, over the next 18 months. Elsewhere, Mondas, the financial and e-business software specialist, hardened by 2p to 28.5p after boasting that current trading is 'encouraging'. However, investment in research and development widened losses from £860,000 to £1.5 million, although sales jumped 98 per cent to 2.7 million.

Looking forward

Investors with 'male problems' might like to keep an eye out for Futura, a medical research company planning to put the fizz back into your love life. Futura aims to compete against anti-impotence pill 'Viagra' through the development of an erection stimulating cream called Med 2001, which it hopes to market by 2003. The company is raising £3 million through a private placing and plans to raise another £5 to £6 million on Aim this year.