(MENAFN- ProactiveInvestors - UK) Xcite Energy Limited (LON:XEL) saw a whipsaw start to the new week's trading and ended a volatile Monday some 8% lower.
Like several others in the sector Xcite was buoyed by rallying crude prices which saw Brent up near $40 per barrel and sentiment around the heavy oilfield developer also seemingly improved by broader talk of consolidation in the North Sea particularly.
As high as 29p in early deals Xcite was up more than 130% since the start of March.
Trading hit the brakes however after it issued a stock market statement saying 'it knows of no reason for this movement.'
Closing at 19.25p Xcite ended down 8.33% for Monday.
Sirius Petroleum Plc (LON:SRSP) was among AIM's top risers for the day up 38% to 0.45p meanwhile Nigeria focussed Eland Oil & Gas Plc (LON:ELA) gained 18% to 32.5p.
Falklands oil driller Rockhopper Exploration Plc (LON:RKH) was up 15.3% to 32p while Trinidad based producer Range Resources Ltd (LON:RRL) and South America focussed Amerisur Resources Plc (LON:AMER) added 13.8% to 33p.
Brent crude was up 4.6% at $40.60 per barrel while West Texas Intermediary crude gained 4.2% to $37.50.
The FTSE AIM 100 small cap benchmark was slightly lower ending Monday down 1.3 points at 3294. Meanwhile the FTSE AIM ALL SHARE marked 1.3 points 0.2% higher at 703.
In the blue-chip market the FTSE 100 closed 17 points lower at 6182.
Stronger metal prices notably iron ore helped miners such as Rio Tinto plc (LON:RIO) and BHP Billiton plc (LON:BLT) rise 5% and 3.4% respectively.
Copper producer Antofagasta plc (LON:ANTO) charged 7.6% higher followed by Glencore PLC (LON:GLEN) and Anglo American plc (LON:AAL) which climbed 6.7% and 6.1%.
London's biggest gold producer Randgold Resources Limited (LON:RRS) however was the FTSE 100's worst performer on Monday.
Payments firm WorldPay Group Plc (LON:WPG) Whitbread plc (LON:WTB) and RSA Insurance Group plc (LON:RSA) were also among the blue-chip fallers losing 2.7% 2.13% and 2.03% respectively.
MID-SESSION
Aim-listed shares continued to defy the broader market trend in the mid-session led by machine-to-machine specialist Telit Communications PLC (LON:TCM).
The Aim-listed Italy-based Israeli technology company was the top riser on the Aim 100 index advancing 9.8% as it cheered the market with strong growth in its key performance indicators and a forecast that cash conversion will start improving now the company has achieved scale.
The Aim 100 was up three points at 3299 at 2pm.
Herencia Resources PLC (LON:HER) climbed 20% to 0.015p as the chairman rode to the rescue with a three month loan of $300000 carrying an interest rate of 15% per annum to provide the company with working capital.
Sector peer Lonmin PLC (LON:LMI) up 15.3% was given a massive lift by today's spike in the price of platinum. The spot price was 690.74 an ounce overnight and had risen to more than 711 by 1.15pm today.
In similar vein iron pellet producer Ferrexpo PLC (LON:FXPO) up 11.4% was boosted by the price of iron ore racking up its biggest single-day rise after Chinese policy makers signalled their intention to ginger-up economic growth.
Away from the mining sector logistics firm Stobart Group Ltd (LON:STOB) trucked 4.5% higher on the back of a pre-close trading update that said underlying results for the year just ended will be in line with expectations with the infrastructure business exceeding expectations.
Active Energy Group PLC (LON:AEG) warmed up nicely after chief executive Richard Spinks hailed the success of the company's CoalSwitch technology which he said 'fully justified' the investment made over the past 12 months.
CoalSwitch is an environmentally-friendly process that cleanses the raw biomass by removing salts minerals and other contaminants that harm the atmosphere and damage power plant furnaces.
The shares moved up 13.6% to 6.25p.
Escher Group Holdings PLC (LON:ESCH) jumped 4% to 169p as it put December's disappointing trading update behind it and announced a return to profitability in 2015.
Profit before tax for the Irish provider of outsourced point-of-service software to the postal industry came in at $1.1mln versus a loss the year before of $0.5mln.
Revenue rose 4% to $22.0mln from $21.1mln and speaking to Proactive Investors chief executive officer Liam Church said the completion of three major implementation projects had put the company in a position where it expects a larger proportion of predictable and recurring revenues in 2016.
The group is looking to optimise the core business through new licence sales moving beyond its historical heartland of postal businesses to other parts of financial services building on its success with Permanent TSB an Irish bank with more than one million customers.
The company is also getting better at selling more products to existing customers Church told Proactive with the mobile devices revolution opening up more opportunities for the company.
No frills airline Fastjet PLC (LON:FJET) lost around a third of its value after a trading statement revealed how tough the African aviation market is. Another round of rationalisation is underway including reductions in capacity and the route network but even with these savings the results for the current year will be materially below market expectations.
Investors also punished One Media Group PLC (LON:OMIP) after the digital media's results for the year to the end of October disappointed.
The shares tumbled almost 22% as it posted a fall in revenue and profitability. The digital media world is changing to one characterised by a switch to streaming from downloading which the company admitted was a factor in its content 'not meeting its potential'.
The company also opined that the move by many digital stores to focus on tried & tested artists had left less room for One Media's 'indy'-focused music.
OPEN
Aim shares opened on a firmer footing leaving blue-chips in their dust on Monday morning.
The AIM 100 index was up 10 points or 0.3% at 3306 after 90 minutes trading. In contrast the FTSE 100 was off 0.5% at 6171.
Leading the small-cap charge was Minco PLC (LON:MIO) the mineral exploration company which shot up 29.6% to 0.875p after the English High Court chucked out the legal claim that had been brought against the company and two of its directors.
The claim for alleged misrepresentation had been made in November 2013 by John Bennington Sears of Maidenhead and Sippdeal Trustees Limited of Manchester.
Another company soaring on the back of a legal verdict was Trading Emissions PLC (LON:TRE) which was trading 16.7 higher at 6p after the termination of a further arbitration in respect of a claim of around 5.6mln lodged by a subsidiary of Yunnan Dianneng (Group).
The tribunal also awarded the UK-listed investor in environmental and emissions assets a total amount of HK$289105.37 in respect of its legal costs the tribunal's fees and the administrative fees of the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre.
Xcite Energy Limited (LON:XEL CVE:XEL) was living up to its name rising from 21p overnight to 29p before the board spoiled the fun and said it knew of no reason for the share price movement deflating the price all the way down to 21.45p.
Machine-to-machine wireless communications specialist Telit Communications PLC (LON:TCM) laid to rest fears that its impressive growth rate might be stalling with strong demand from Asia-Pacific and a growing presence in the industrial Internet of Things (IoT) market driving impressive top-line growth.
The company also cheered investors with assurances that the company's evolution should see it move into a more cash-generative phase laying to rest fears in some quarters about the group's cash conversion.
The shares motored 15.5% higher to 242.5p.
Elsewhere in the technology sector APC Technology Group PLC (LON:APC) surged 16.1% to 9p as it revealed its components division has recorded one of its best half year performances ever despite a weak market backdrop.
Turkey-focused minerals group Ariana Resources PLC (LON:AAU) was wanted after it doubled the resources at Kizilcukur in Turkey one of the potential satellites for the Kiziltepe mine currently under construction.
The shares leapt 8.8% to 1.11p and are up 32% year-to-date.
Also shining were shares in Fox Marble PLC (LON:FOX) the operator of marble quarries in Kosovo and the Balkans as it reported it is about to bank a first payment from the 2mln distribution agreement with Eboracum announced in January.
The company's shares advanced 14% as it said 300000 is about to land in its coffers any day now.
On the downside low-cost airline Fastjet PLC (LON:FJET) lost around a third of its value after it warned the African aviation market remains weak.
Another round of rationalisation is underway including reductions in capacity and the route network but even with these savings results for 2016 will be materially below market expectations.