RAMSEY CROOKALL & CO 27th July 2012

Evening Report

The FTSE 100 ends 1% higher at 5627.21, advancing into the close, boosted by the positive tone of Wall Street after the release of some healthy US economic data. 2Q GDP grew at an annual rate of 1.5%, ahead of an expected 1.3%.  These figures will be in focus heading for Wednesday's FOMC meeting, with the key question whether the Fed feels the need to inject more stimulus into the world's largest economy.

The chairman of under-fire bank Barclays, apologised for the company's involvement in the LIBOR fixing scandal as he unveiled half-year profits ahead of market expectations, causing shares to climb into the top spot. Adjusted profit before tax in the first half of 2012 rose 13% to £4,227m from £3,725m in the first half of 2011, versus market expectations of £3,958m.

Heading the other way was publishing group Pearson after its operating profits came in a little sky of expectations as it admitted that the first half has been a little tougher than expected for some parts of the business.

Mining colossus Anglo American after first-half profits plunged from $6,571m to just $2,942m on the back of weaker commodity prices and input cost pressures.

Tullow Oil was also down after Goldman Sachs cut its target price on the stock to 1776p from 2020p.   

High Street bookie William Hill surged after improving profits by 13 per cent in the first half, with online and mobile businesses driving growth.

Exhibitions group and business publisher UBM was another high riser after reporting strong underlying revenue growth in the first half and revealing that it is "exploring strategic options" for its Data Services division.

THE FTSE 100             closed          Up       54       @      5,627 THE DOW JONES            @ 17:00         Up      105      @     12993 THE NASDAQ               @ 17:00         Up       33       @    2927 Exchange Rates GBP – USD        @      17:00              1.5726 GBP - EURO      @      17:00              1.2715