RAMSEY CROOKALL & CO 22nd October 2012

      Evening Report

The FTSE 100 ends 0.2% lower at 5882.91. Despite flitting between small gains and losses for most of the session, the index tilted firmly to the downside after the Wall Street open. Weak corporate news from the US, most notably from Caterpillar, added to the inertia. BP ends 1.68% lower after agreeing to sell its 50% stake in Russian oil company TNK-BP to state- backed giant Rosneft.

Caterpillar's 3Q net rises 49% to $1.7 billion, or $2.54 a share, as the construction and mining equipment maker benefits from an asset-sale gain and revenue growth. Firm lowers its 2012 outlook on weaker-than-expected conditions. Shares are down 2%.

Aggreko fell after  HSBC cut its rating stock to underweight from neutral.Shares of Aggreko tumbled 7.2% on Friday, as the supplier of temporary-power solutions said that exchange-rate fluctuations and increased provisions for bad debt would hurt full-year profit to the tune of 2.5%.

Outside the main index, Devro fell. The collagen-products manufacturer warned that full-year operating profit will be below its own original estimate.

Genealogy website Ancestry.com say it agrees to be acquired by an investor group led by European private-equity firm Permira for about $1.6 billion, or $32 a share. Shares rise 8%.

Workers at the BHP Billiton and Mitsubishi Corp jointly owned coking coal mines in eastern Australia have voted to accept a new workplace agreement, bringing to an end a dispute that has dragged on for almost two years.

Shell said Monday it will develop the Fram oil and gas field in the U.K. Central North Sea, following final approval from the Department of Energy and Climate Change.

Rolls-Royce has announced it won a contract to power the U.S. Navy's future fleet of hovercrafts, known as the Ship-to-Shore Connectors, which will replace its current Landing Craft Air Cushion hovercraft over the next 20 years.

Senior announced that overall trading for the for the period since July 1 remained positive, and added that its Board continues to expect 2012 adjusted pretax profit to be in line with its previous expectations.

THE FTSE 100             closed        Down       13          @      5882 THE DOW JONES            @ 17:00       Down       18         @     13325 THE NASDAQ               @ 17:00       Up         6           @      3011













Exchange Rates GBP – USD        @       17:00                  1.6025 GBP - EURO      @       17:00                  1.2265

Gold USD/Oz                          $1,728