RAMSEY CROOKALL & CO

29th June 2012

Evening  Report

The FTSE 100 finished @ 5,570 finishing Up 1.4% in positive territory on the final trading day of the month.

Following Barclays's 16 per cent drop yesterday after it was found to have manipulated interbank lending rates, shares were swinging between gains and losses today after the Financial Services Authority (FSA) revealed it has found "serious failings" in the way lenders sold complicated interest rate protection products to businesses. Some businesses claim they have been bankrupted by the liabilities they took on when entering the so-called “swap” arrangements. Barclays is the biggest faller on the FTSE 100, down 2.5% at 161p.

Yesterday's news prompted calls for the resignation of Barclays CEO Bob Diamond and today's developments will have further dented confidence in the British lender. Oriel Securities downgraded its rating for Barclays this morning to 'hold'.

Heading the other way were sector peers Lloyds, HSBC and RBS who were making gains this morning as they pulled back after yesterday's sharp falls.

Mining stocks were putting in decent performances as commodities prices rallied on the back of the EU summit. Vedanta, Antofagasta, Rio Tinto, ENRC and Kazakhmys were all among the best performers.

Telecoms giant Vodafone was lower after Jefferies downgraded its rating on the stock from 'buy' to 'hold', highlighting threats from competitor fight backs and this company's dependence on Verizon Wireless.

THE FTSE 100 Closed                Up     77       @    5,570 THE DOW JONES @ 16.30       Up     215      @   12,818 THE NASDAQ COMP @ 16.30    Up     63       @   2,914

Exchange Rates

GBP – USD     @ 16.30            1.5687 GBP - EURO   @ 16.30            1.2379

*** RBS completed a 1 for 10 Consolidation 6th June 2012 ***