YP75: Market rises despite Chinese bid to put a brake on inflation

The FTSE 100 index managed a gain of 1.6 per cent last week, despite Chinese policy-makers lifting the banking reserve requirements for the second time in a month.

The announcement from the Chinese authorities, on Friday, effectively a form of monetary tightening, will be seen as an effort to temper Chinese GDP and, more importantly, inflation, which showed a significant rise towards the end of 2009.

Even before the announcement, markets had been relatively volatile. There were continued fears of a possible debt crisis across the eurozone due to the desperate need for a credible deficit plan for Greece whose budget deficit stands at more than 12 per cent of GDP.

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The eurozone as a whole has, however, finally exited recession with the combined economic area growing by a modest 0.1 per cent over the final quarter of 2009.

The strength of the recovery was, however, hampered by the area's largest economy, Germany, which failed to grow at all over the final three months.

The news contrasts with France which posted a relatively strong 0.6 per cent increase over the same period.

Carclo, a global supplier of technical plastic components, expect underlying profits to be broadly flat compared to a year ago, with the Technical Plastics division continuing to trade well.

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While the company is continuing to witness slow demand in its aerospace business, the group's exterior car lighting company, Wipac, whose clients include Land Rover, is showing signs of growth.

The company recently completed a share placing in which it raised 3.5m.

Carclo plans to use these new funds to pay down debt while continuing to invest in its growth businesses.

Leeds-based Datong, the advanced electronics company which manufactures intelligence equipment for crime-prevention agencies, announced the winning of a $1.2m contract from a US defence company.

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Datong has been chosen to manufacture and supply key tracking and location technology.

Shares in Glisten jumped on confirmation that the board have agreed terms on a takeover offer from Raiso Group, a Finnish food company.

The offer of 140p per share values Glisten at nearly 20m.

Raiso Group will establish a separate venture, called Bidco, to complete the acquisition which will then effectively be owned by Raiso and the management team, who will retain a 15 per cent stake.

Spice has begun the search for a new chief executive following the departure of Simon Rigby, who has left to pursue other interests.

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Mr Rigby oversaw more than a decade of growth at Spice which now turns over nearly 400m per year.

Former Kelda finance director Martin Towers, who joined Spice in June 2009, has been named as the interim chief executive.

David Cadwallader, Assistant Investment Manager at Brewin Dolphin, Leeds

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