RAMSEY CROOKALL & CO 29th October 2012

      Evening Report The FTSE 100 ends off session lows, down 0.2% at 5795.10 with volumes very light. Volumes were down largely due to the closure of US markets because of the impending landfall of Hurricane Sandy. As a result of the storm, the FTSE 350 insurance index ends down 1.4%.

Sage Group lead the risers after Citigroup upgraded the stock from neutral to buy, and raised its target price from 294p to 345p. Similarly, Deutsche Bank has today upped its price targets Hammerson to 580p from 540p, boosting the stock into the top three risers.

Serco Group, the international service company, closed up after it signed a contract for an outsourcing partnership that will provide customer contact and support services for AEGON, the Dutch life and pensions company.

Analysts at Citi have downgraded their view on shares of Hargreaves Lansdown to sell from neutral, expressing its concerns for the group ahead of the up-coming retail distribution review.

Old Mutual has said Nedbank Group, its majority-owned South African banking subsidiary, is on track to hit growth targets despite market conditions getting worse. Meantime, ratings agency Fitch has affirmed its view on the group´s debt, but while maintaining its outlook at negative.

WPP continued to fall after Nomura on Friday reduced its target price for the advertising and media giant from 1,030p to 980p after cutting its forecasts for organic growth on the back of a slowing macro-economic environment.

BT closed lower after it was reported that the company is likely to post a decline in second quarter turnover on Thursday, after corporate spending was reportedly affected by the current difficult economic situation.

THE FTSE 100             closed             Down      11     @      5795 THE DOW JONES            closed                                                    THE NASDAQ               closed

Exchange Rates GBP – USD        @       17:00                  1.6018 GBP - EURO      @       17:00                  1.2420

Gold USD/Oz                             $1,708