Gilts
June gilt futures hit a contract high and yields on ten-year gilts fell to a six-week low after a huge earthquake and tsunamis in Japan and worries about peripheral eurozone debt boosted their safe-haven appeal. The June gilt future settled 36 ticks up at 117.38, in line with the bund future, just short of a contract high of 117.59 in early trade.
Deal of the day
The telecoms network specialist Norcon has been trying to diversify its customer base by expanding abroad — a move that looked to have paid off yesterday when it secured a new client in Thailand. It will work with one of the country’s mobile operators on an upgrade for its national network infrastructure. The shares closed unchanged at 51½p.
Tiddler to watch
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Shares in Atlantic Coal dipped 0.023p to 0.682p yesterday but could be worth watching over the next few days. The company recently raised £12 million to finance acquisitions in Pennsylvania and is not hanging around. It is eyeing up a 158-acre site close to its existing operations and the word is that it could have some news on a potential deal next week.