Shares in Cisco fell 6 per cent on Wednesday after it told Wall Street that it expects revenue to grow between 1 and 3 per cent in the current quarter, against the 3.6 per cent rise expected by analysts.

That update raised concerns about the pace of technology spending at Cisco, which makes routers for the internet, and inevitably fed through to DiData, one of the biggest resellers of its equiptment. With DiData set to provide its own figures on Wednesday, its shares shed 1¼p to 28¼p, against a 40.0 rise in the FTSE 250 to 6,535.7.

An upgrade from UBS and the declaration that Gerald Ronson’s Heron International now holds 23.41 per cent sent Crest Nicholson up 10¼p to 347p. The Swiss broker has moved from neutral to buy ahead of next week’s trading update from the housebuilder.

ITouch, the provider of mobile ringtones, rose 1½p to 33p as Schroder Investment Management bought a debut 16 million shares at 31½p, giving it a 3.9 per cent holding ahead of third-quarter results on November 23. GTL Resources initially rallied to 6p on confirmation of a deal with Oman Oil and an unnamed petroleum company — said to be Vitol of the Netherlands — to construct a methanol plant in the sultanate. However, the fact that the financing has yet to be signed off later weighed on the shares, which closed ¼p lighter at 5¼p.

Following the £106 million purchase by Experian of rival QAS two weeks ago, GB Group, the computer services group, rose 1p to 20½p on talk that it may also become a target for the GUS subsidiary.

Of yesterday’s AIM newcomers, Lodore Resources, an oil and gas vehicle, made the best debut, jumping from its 5p placing price to 10¼p.

Europe Oil & Gas, which has interests in the southern North Sea, settled at 31p after a 25p placing by Westhouse Securities. A similar premium is expected today by African Copper, where a £15 million placing by Numis Securities at 76p is said to have been four times oversubscribed.

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