Market Report: Rise of Royal Mail shares has proved Vince Cable wrong

Three months on and so far the market has proved Vince Cable wrong. Royal Mail shares were one of the top risers on Friday and are now more than 76.6 per cent above their float price.

At the time of the privatisation the business secretary defended the price, said the rise was “froth and speculation” and urged critics to wait for the price to settle down.

But it collected another 22p on Friday and closed at 583p. The focus on Royal Mail came as the shadow Business Secretary, Chuka Umunna, claimed the float was botched by the Government. Royal Mail also on Friday said it will hike the fees it charges rivals and large companies to use its services.

News that the US non-farm jobs figures were much lower than expected didn’t dent the FTSE 100 as traders began to question what figures to believe and it picked up 48.6 points to 6,739.94.

Lloyds Banking Group was subject to profit taking. It reached more than 85p during trading on Thursday following speculation that the Government will sell off much of its 33 per cent stake this year. But it was the biggest faller yesterday, down 2.22p to 83.04p.

Oil and gas explorer Tullow Oil spurted 64.5p to 909.5p and was top of the table after reports circulated that Norway’s Statoil could be considering a bid.

Luxury brand Burberry presented a 52p gain to 1,473p ahead of its third-quarter update next week. Analysts at Berenberg Bank rated it a buy with a 1,660p price target.

Analysts at Goldman Sachs removed smartphone microchips designer Arm Holdings from their “conviction buy list” and Arm eased 25.5p to 972p.

Mid-cap digital sport group Perform Group’s chief financial officer David Surtees has resigned following a profits warning and massive share price collapse last month. It recovered 14.3p to 250p.

Small-cap generator supplier APR Energy said its Libyan contract had been extended and it powered up 62.5p to 962.5p.

Cineworld bought Warsaw-listed Cinema City International in a £503m deal and plans to expand across eastern and central Europe. It produced a 51.5p rise to 443.5p.