The "buy the rumour, sell the fact" investment strategy hit Baltimore Technologies with a vengeance on the London and Nasdaq markets yesterday as investors sold the stock following this week's results.
With the decision on the FTSE-100 composition now less than two weeks away, Baltimore will be hoping that the current shift away from the shares is stemmed quickly - otherwise the company risks missing out on much-desired membership of the most exclusive index.
In London, Baltimore was down £10.50 on £101.50 sterling - the shares had traded up to over £127 ahead of the results - while on Nasdaq, at midday, it was trading over $21 lower on $164 , down from Tuesday's pre-results high of $225.
Horizon has taken over as the latest go-go dot.com stock and soared €1.75 to a new high of €13.00 on speculation that the €29 million placing will lead to serious acquisition activity in the coming months. Trintech was firmer on the Neuer Markt, closing up €3 on €109.60, while Iona was in strong demand on Nasdaq, rising by almost $5 by midday in New York to $67 3/4.
Eircom failed to benefit from a "buy" recommendation from DLJ and closed down 2 cents on €4.68. "Old industry" shares continued to languish, and Smurfit and CRH - both of which will report full-year results on Tuesday - were weaker. CRH was down 30 cents on €17.12, while Smurfit fell 7 cents to €2.33.
Financial shares were mixed. AIB was down 20 cents on €8.15, while Bank of Ireland recovered from its three-year low, rising 9 cents to €6.09. First Active lost 5 cents to €2.20 and Irish Life was 20 cents lower on €7.90.
