RAMSEY CROOKALL & CO

      10th September 2012

Evening Report

The FTSE 100 ends flat at 5793.20, as investors await key events later this week, including the German constitutional court's vote on the ESM  and the FOMC rate decision on Thursday. Miners gain as disappointing Chinese data fuelled hopes of further easing.

Shares of AstraZeneca traded down 0.5% after Bank of America Merrill Lynch cut the pharmaceutical company to an underperform rating from neutral,

Mining firms traded higher in London, as sluggish trade data and weak industrial- production numbers in China spurred further speculation about Beijing’s prospects for monetary easing. The weak data followed news from late last week that Beijing approved a batch of major infrastructure-investment projects to spur the cooling Chinese economy. Shares of Rio Tinto PLC  added 3.14%.

Xstrata PLC picked up 1.4% amid negotiations with Glencore International surrounding their proposed merger. Earlier Monday, Glencore said it wouldn’t raise its bid for Xstrata past a sweetened 3.05 shares for each Xstrata share. Shares of Glencore fell 0.76%.

Either investment company Melrose PLC or oil and gas services firm John Wood Group PLC could enter the U.K.'s leading FTSE 100 share index, replacing interdealer broker ICAP according to indicative data supplied by FTSE Group and based on Friday night's closing share prices.

Mine The Australian mining industry took another hit Monday when BHP Billiton (BHP) said it will cease production at one of its jointly owned metallurgical coal mines in northeastern Australia due to falling prices and high costs.

Barclays PLC Chief Executive Antony Jenkins Monday ruled out the possibility of the break-up of the bank or sale of whole business lines, putting to rest rumors that the incoming executive would spin off the U.K. lender's investment banking business.

THE FTSE 100             closed          Down      1          @      5,793 THE DOW JONES            @ 17:00         Up        5          @     13312 THE NASDAQ               @ 17:00         Down      11         @      3124 Exchange Rates GBP – USD        @      17:00                 1.6009 GBP - EURO      @      17:00                 1.2512