Sector movers: ARM gives leg-up to Tech sector

4th Nov 2011 19:20

ARM Holdings, the chip designer, is arguably the king of the mobile devices arena, but has not made many inroads into the desktop and server based market, but that may be all about to change.PC colossus Hewlett-Packard (H-P), which recently rescinded its decision to get out of the PC business, yesterday announced it would use ARM-based chips in a new line servers.H-P is just dipping its toe into the water, to see what the response is, but it is potentially a very big market for ARM, hence the sharp rise in the company's share price on Friday, which drove the strong performance of the Technology Hardware & Equipment sector.The Travel & Leisure sector was dealt a double blow by poor receptions to trading updates from airline International Airlines Group (IAG) and hotelier Millennium & Copthorne. IAG, the company formed through the merger of British Airways and Iberia, is to add British Midland (BMI) to the mix, after agreeing in principle to buy the UK-based airline from Deutsche Lufthansa. The price has not been revealed. The deal, which is subject to due diligence and regulatory clearances, is expected to be completed in the first quarter of next year. The airline said revenue in the third quarter of 2011 rose 2.2% to €4,490m from €4,392m the year before. Passenger revenue was up 2.9% year-on-year, while cargo revenue was up 0.3%. However, high fuel costs continue to have a significant impact on our business.As for Millennium & Copthorne, jitters over the Eurozone crisis are apparently having an effect on business travel.In his statement the company's chairman Kwek Leng Beng acknowledges "we are noticing more caution amongst business customers, reflecting anxiety about events affecting the Eurozone."On a like-for-like basis headline profit increased 19.9% to £42.1m on revenues of £198.2m (excluding a £44.2m land sale in Malaysia) in the third quarter.Top performing sectors so far todayTechnology Hardware & Equipment 773.89 +5.54%Industrial Transportation 2,223.86 +2.40%Tobacco 33,570.00 +1.27%Electronic & Electrical Equipment 2,677.77 +1.03%Real Estate Investment Trusts 1,908.21 +0.68%Bottom performing sectors so far todayElectricity 8,315.49 -2.96%Travel & Leisure 4,169.91 -1.37%Health Care Equipment & Services 3,121.18 -1.34%Financial Services 4,674.23 -1.23%Beverages 9,877.15 -0.90%--jh