RAMSEY CROOKALL & CO 21st November 2012

Morning Report

The FTSE 100 trades with small losses, down 0.14%. Investors are disappointed that yet again, euro-zone finance ministers cannot agree on a solution for Greece. The FTSE is faring better though than most European counterparts. The Bank of England's November meeting minutes and October public finances data are announced this morning and will be eyed by investors.

Chief Executive Neil Carson said: "Whilst precious metal prices have improved from their lows during the summer, largely due to the labour unrest in South Africa, the outlook in some of our other markets has weakened and visibility remains limited. We therefore expect that the group's performance in the second half will be similar to the first half of the year." 

Contract caterer Compass sank early on in spite of its announcement of a further £400m share buy-back next year. The company saw profits break through the billion-pound barrier in the 12 months to the end of September.

Real estate peers Land Securities and British land rose this morning after Morgan Stanley upgraded its ratings on the stocks to 'overweight'. Meanwhile, the same broker lifted its recommendation for banking group Lloyds to 'equal weight', providing a lift to shares.

Utilities groups were in demand this morning in spite of the government's plans to simplify energy bills and offer customers the cheapest tariffs possible. United Utilies, Severn Trent, Pennon and National Grid were making gains this morning.

Xstrata and Glencore continued to rise after shareholders yesterday voted in favour of their propped merger. However, Xstrata Chairman Sir John Bond announced that he would retire after the completion of the tie-up after shareholders did not give the green light to the proposed retention arrangements for management.

THE FTSE 100       @ 10:00     Down    7   @    5740 THE DOW JONES      closed      Down    7   @    12788                                THE NASDAQ         closed      Flat        @    2916                                                         

Exchange Rates GBP – USD       @  10:00    1.5918 GBP - EURO      @  10:00    1.2453

Gold $/ OZ         $1725