RAMSEY CROOKALL & CO 24th July 2012

Evening Report

The FTSE 100 ends 0.6% lower at 5499.23, unable to hold on to small gains. Investors have become increasingly concerned about the situation in Spain as its borrowing costs surge and stocks slump despite a ban on short-selling. Investors will focus on the first release of UK 2Q GDP tomorrow.

It took a while for the market to fully digest the results from speciality chemicals producer Croda International, but once it did the shares raced ahead. Strong demand for the group's products in the USA offset weaker trading conditions in Europe, while a change in the product mix sold led to an improvement in margins.

Insurers were out of favour following yesterday's market shake-out, which will have put a dent in the sector's investment portfolios. Aviva was prominent among those declining, despite Panmure Gordon reiterating its 'buy' recommendation as it speculates on the benefits of a sale of the insurer's US operations.

Small loans specialist Provident Financial rose after reporting that its first-half performance was helped by a sparkling performance from its Vanquis Bank. The group reported a 17 per cent rise in pre-tax profits, while Vanquis Bank saw profits surge 60.2 per cent.

The doorstep lender International Personal Finance advanced after saying that it is to return a pile of cash to shareholders after reporting a big rise in customer numbers and underlying profits at the half year stage.

Hedge fund manager Man Group closed higher despite funds under management falling from $58.4bn to $52.7bn and adjusted profits almost halving. The firm said it was on track to achieve its cost-cutting target this year and said it will save further in the next 18 months.

Heading the other way was consumer products group PZ Cussons after tough trading conditions n Nigeria and Australia plus soaring raw material costs dented profits in the year to May 31st.

THE FTSE 100             closed              Down           34     @      5,499 THE DOW JONES            @ 17:00             Down           127    @     12593 THE NASDAQ               @ 17:00             Down           16     @      2873 Exchange Rates GBP – USD        @      17:00                 1.5520 GBP - EURO      @      17:00               1.2867