Market report: Jupiter over the moon after Barclays’ upgrade

An upgrade from Barclays kept Jupiter Fund Management shares in orbit amid chatter it is ripe for a takeover.

Jupiter, up 31% this year, put on 7p to 466.5p, as analysts at Barclays slapped an overweight recommendation on the fund manager’s stock, with a new and improved target price of 520p.

Barclays put the upgrade down to “stronger flow momentum” rather than the potential for a buyout.

Shares in Jupiter have been on a tear since September amid whispers US banking heavyweight Wells Fargo is after a UK-based fund manager to drive its overseas expansion, rumours it quashed this week.

The denial did little to quell the excitement among traders, even as analysts suggest a takeover might take some time.

Henderson, 2.2p better off at 292p, has also been touted as a potential target for America’s fourth-biggest bank.

Investors halted a four-day decline from London-listed stocks with the FTSE 100 up 44.96 points to 6320.24.

However, the tentative rises and falls seen in recent weeks from the blue-chip index are a far cry from the wild swings from September. Investors are juggling with the potential for more stimulus in China whose economy is dragging its heels, an increasingly likely US interest rate rise by the end of the year and disappointing earnings reports; the result is a directionless Footsie.

Whitbread shrugged off a downgrade to underweight and target price cut to 4100p from Jefferies, which hinted at pressure for Premier Inn from the so-called disruptors such as Airbnb. It climbed 2p to 4613p.

Imagination Technologies has recruited Guy Millward as its chief financial officer, sending the Apple supplier up 0.75p to 219p. Millward has been the bean counter at three other tech businesses, all of which were bought out, sparking hopes he can repeat the trick at Imagination. The latest was AIM-listed software firm Advanced Computer, snapped up last year by US private-equity firm Vista Equity Partners for £725 million, bagging chief executive and founder Vin Murria, the UK’s queen of the “buy and build” strategy, a cool £101 million.

Liberum knocked the price of Jimmy Choo down 3.5p to 151.5p by downgrading the luxury fashion house to hold. The rationale is the slowdown in the luxury sector, as experienced by Burberry, is yet to be reflected in the share price.

Miton Group, the fund manager run by star small-cap stock picker Gervais Williams, snapped up a 3% stake in DekelOil, nudging the AIM-listed palm oil producer’s shares up by 0.03p to 1.13p.