RAMSEY CROOKALL & CO

3rd August 2012

Evening Report

The FTSE 100 ends 2.2% ahead at 5787.28, closing at a three-month high, though struggling to get up to the key 5800 level. A positive US nonfarm payrolls print helps sentiment markedly. In addition, investors are more bullish on the ECB's euro zone roadmap proposals. Aviva tops the FTSE 100, rising 7.15%..     International Consolidated Airlines Group said Friday it is making contingency plans for Spain's possible exit from the single European currency, the most public acknowledgment yet by a European blue-chip company of the dangers of a euro-zone collapse.

BHP Billiton said it will write down the value of U.S. shale gas and Australian nickel assets by a combined US$3.29 billion, prompting Chief Executive Marius Kloppers to decline an annual bonus in the latest sign the global resources boom has lost momentum.

Royal Bank of Scotland Group said that its first-half net loss widened to GBP1.99 billion and warned that it faced several potential lawsuits over allegations that it tried to fix interbank lending rates.

The U.K.'s RSA Insurance Group said Thursday it has acquired two Argentine insurers for an undisclosed amount.

BP Thursday notified California's South Coast Air Quality Management District of its plan to flare emissions at its oil refinery in Carson, California.

Procter & Gamble's fiscal 4Q profit jumps to $3.63 billion, or $1.24 a share, due to gains from selling its snacks unit, but sales dip 1.2% to $20.21 billion and margins slip. Consumer-products giant also loses market share in many of its businesses.

THE FTSE 100             closed             Up          124       @      5,787 THE DOW JONES            @ 17:00            Up          246       @     13125 THE NASDAQ               @ 17:00            Up          62        @      2972 Exchange Rates GBP – USD        @      17:00              1.5648 GBP - EURO      @      17:00              1.2630