Market report: YOLO hits high notes as Electric Jukebox gets City jiving

If ever there was a subliminal message urging stock market punters to take a chance on a share, it’s YOLO Leisure and Technology.

The AIM-listed tiddler, whose name stands for you only live once (the emoji generation’s take on “carpe diem”), backs small tech firms in the hope of unearthing a hidden gem.

Shares in YOLO, whose main shareholder is Saracens chairman Nigel Wray, leapt 0.48p, or 96%, to 0.98p today as it looked set to cash in on the float of one of its five investments.

Music-streaming service Electric Jukebox, the trading name of Magic Media Works Limited in which YOLO has a 41% stake, unveiled plans to list on the LSE next year as it announced a pre-flotation funding round of $14 million (£11 million).

Electric Jukebox, which has high-profile backers from the music industry including American singer Sheryl Crow and Robbie Williams, also launched its second home entertainment product called ROXI, which is aimed at families. It marks the company’s first foray into the lucrative US market.

The news helped YOLO, which is also backed by Chris Akers, the former Leeds United chief executive, enjoy a rare day in the sun. It was the best performing share on the stock market in 2013 as the AIM herd rushed to join Wray and Akers as they launched the investment vehicle.

But the company has lost 97% of its value since those highs as other investments such as podcast site Audioboom have struggled to take off.

The FTSE 100 dipped 9.61 points to 7423.42, held back by Kingfisher, whose sales slump at B&Q dragged the share price down 11.7p, almost 4%, to 295.7p.

The gloomy update also weighed on Ferguson, which recently changed its name from Wolseley. Shares in the Plumb Center owner dropped 41p, or 0.9%, to 4664p.

A weaker dollar as the Federal Reserve minutes suggested further rate hikes might be delayed boosted precious metals prices, lifting African gold firm Randgold Resources 185p, or 2.5%, to 7460p and Fresnillo 49p, or 3.3%, to 1557p.

Catalytic converter manufacturer Johnson Matthey rose 91.05p, or 3.3%, to 2845p on the back of an upgrade to Outperform by Bernstein. The shares are still down 15% this year.

QinetiQ was the standout stock on the mid-cap index thanks to a Barclays note which argued that the shares are worth a punt.

The broker upgraded the defence technology firm to Overweight, suggesting the share-price slump since it warned of an order slowdown in July is overdone. The shares surged 14.39p, or 6%, to 250.1p.

Among the junior stocks, Cameroon-focused gas firm Victoria Oil & Gas climbed 8.74p, or 19%, to 55.06p after announcing that it had successfully drilled a well.

Wolf Minerals, which is struggling to sustain production at its tungsten and tin mine in Devon, improved 0.59p, or 17%, to 3.96p as it said the turnaround job was on track.