RAMSEY CROOKALL & CO

9th July 2012

Evening  Report

The FTSE 100 finished 0.6% lower 5627 as investors fret about the health of the global economy. Unsurprisingly, miners close in the red after China's disappointing inflation data; Anglo American finishes down 2.9%. Barclays ends 0.8% lower as investors prepare to hear what the BOE deputy governor has to a parliamentary committee about the Libor scandal; Paul Tucker's testimony has just begun. Royal Bank of Scotland meanwhile storms ahead, closing up 2.1% on reports that sovereign wealth funds for the Gulf states of Abu Dhabi and Qatar are competing to acquire UK Marriott hotels from the bank.

Defence group BAE Systems was advancing on reports that it could be close to securing a £7.1bn contract with the US Air Force, according to the Sunday Telegraph. Investors are hoping for more deals to be signed at the 2012 Farnborough Air Show which starts today. Some reports also hold that the government might allow the Eurofigher to be sold abroad with more sophisticated weapons systems than up until now, so as to increase its export appeal. Sector peer Meggitt was also in demand.

Power systems group Rolls-Royce climbed higher after announcing two contract wins, the first an agreement with Malaysia Airlines for long-term TotalCare services support for Trent 900 engines that will power its new fleet of six Airbus A380 aircraft and the second to service M250 engines for the US Army's OH-58D Kiowa Warrior scout helicopters.

Meanwhile, luxury brand Burberry was under the weather ahead of a trading update later this week. All eyes will be on the performance in China, a key growth market for the group.

Mining group Xstrata was lower despite Jefferies saying that it believes potential partner Glencore will raise the terms of their merger. The broker said this morning that it thinks that Glencore will eventually up its proposed merger ratio from 2.8 to at least 3.0 Glencore shares per Xstrata share in order to win the approval of Xstrata shareholders, especially Qatar Holdings, the 10.4% stakeholder that has come out and demanded better terms.

THE FTSE 100 Closed          Down 35                     @    5,627

THE DOW JONES @ 16.30        Down 58                     @   12,713

THE NASDAQ COMP @ 16.30      Down 10                     @   2,926

Exchange Rates

GBP – USD     @ 16.30            1.5514 GBP - EURO   @ 16.30            1.2610