RAMSEY CROOKALL & CO 4th October 2012        Morning Report

The FTSE 100 trades down 0.2%, with focus squarely on central banks Rate announcements from the BOE and the ECB are due later this morning.

BHP Billiton is among those in talks to acquire a multibillion-dollar stake in Petroleo Brasileiro SA's (PBR, PETR4.BR) U.S. Gulf of Mexico oil fields, a pairing that would significantly bolster the Anglo-Australian mining company's already big presence in the Gulf, people familiar with the matter said.

Carillion has announced that it remains on track to deliver full-year results in 2012 in line with expectations.

Halfords Group a retailer of automotive and leisure products, Thursday reported a 5.6% growth in total like for like revenue for the second quarter of the year and said that group pretax profit for the first half is expected to be between 40 million pounds and GBP42 million.

Ted Baker a clothing retailer, has posted a 8.4% drop in first half pretax profit and said that it remains cautious for the second half of the year, given the uncertainty in the global economy.

Gulf Keystone Petroleum, an oil company focused on the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, has said it is launching an offering of senior unsecured convertible bonds due October 2017 in a principal amount of $200 million, which may be increased in the event it exercises in full its increase option of up to $25 million.

THE FTSE 100             @ 10:00        Down      14          @      5811 THE DOW JONES            closed         Up       12          @     13494 THE NASDAQ               closed         Up        15          @      3135

Exchange Rates GBP – USD        @       10:00                    1.6112 GBP - EURO      @       10:00                    1.2454

Gold USD/Oz                             $1,785