Disappointing results from Apple had little effect on UK semi-conductor makers — ARM, the UK's biggest such, actually saw its shares rise. The team at Espirito Santo believes there is little direct read-across from Apple because the rest of the smartphone and tablet market continues to perform so well. "The fact that supply constraints meant Apple could not meet demand hardly seems like bad news longer term too, I suppose," wrote The Times's Tempus on Friday morning.

Apple shares have been tumbling after the technology giant posted weaker-than-expected iPhone sales over Christmas. The shares are now down by a third since their peak at $705.07 in September. The news prompted Wall Street analysts to take a red pen to their price targets, prompting investors to flee the shares in droves. However, the falls could have presented a buying opportunity and now is a good time for UK investors to be looking at foreign investments, as Sterling looks set for a period of weakness. Were the results so bad that such as slump is warranted? Probably not. With currency markets working in the favour of UK investors and the valuation now so low, it looks like a good time for UK investors to take a bite out of Apple shares. Questor' Editor says buy.

The days when the London Stock Exchange was a market for trading equities with a few ancillary services bolted on are long gone. The diversification brought about by Xavier Rolet, the Chief Executive, means that, in the final quarter of last year, capital markets accounted for less than a third of revenues of 208.9m pounds, which rose by 6 per cent. Analysts seized on an uptick in that income from flotations as a positive factor, but this remains at a low level, and the total number of companies quoted on the LSE's three equities markets is still in decline. The shares performed well last year, up by about 50 per cent since the start, and are at their highest level for nearly five years. A rating of 12.6 times consensus earnings for the year to end-March does not suggest much upside until the benefits of LCH are clearer, Tempus believes.

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