RAMSEY CROOKALL & CO 3rd October 2012

      Morning Report The FTSE 100 trades down slightly after Spain's PM Mariano Rajoy dashed hopes that a request from Spain for financial assistance was imminent. Meanwhile, manufacturing data from China overnight weighed. Miners lose ground as a result.

Tesco says it expects the global economic environment to remain very challenging as it reports a drop in first-half net profit, dragged down by sluggish sales and the cost of a 1 billion pound U.K. turnaround plan.

Petrobras is very near to closing a deal on the sale of up to $6 billion in Gulf of Mexico assets, and has narrowed talks down to some three possible buyers, the Financial Times reports.

 Bus and rail firm FirstGroup said Wednesday it had absolutely no indication there were any issues with the InterCity West Coast franchise letting process and had received assurances from the U.K. Department for Transport, or DfT, that their processes were robust and that they expected to sign the contract with FirstGroup soon.

Publishing firm Pearson said Wednesday Marjorie Scardino has decided to step down as chief executive at the end of 2012 and that John Fallon will succeed her as on Jan. 1. Drinks firm Britvic which houses Tango and Robinsons within its brands, said Wednesday it and Irn-Bru maker A.G. Barr have sought, and received, an extension to the U.K.

Takeover Panel deadline for them to announce a merger or withdraw to 1700 GMT on Oct. 31. Glencore International has given the European Commission official notification of its planned merger with Xstrata Reuters reported Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

UAE-based oil rig engineer Lamprell Wednesday it is considering a boardroom shakeup and also intends to appoint external advisors to provide an independent assessment of the full extent of the financial impact after several events earlier in the year led the company to slash its earnings projections.

THE FTSE 100             @ 10:00           Down      9       @      5799 THE DOW JONES            closed            Down     32      @     13482 THE NASDAQ               closed            Up        6       @      3120

Exchange Rates GBP – USD        @       10:00             1.6113 GBP - EURO      @       10:00             1.2472

Gold USD/Oz                       $1,775