RAMSEY CROOKALL & CO  25th June 2012

Morning Report

The FTSE 100 is down 0.5% at 5483.82 maintaining losses. Shire continues to lead the downside, dropping 11% after the FDA approves generics for its Adderall drug. There is little reaction following the announcement that Spain has made a formal request for bank aid. But a trader notes that it is still unclear which bailout fund will be used - the ESM or EFSF.

Pharma firm Shire tumbled the most in the index, down over 11%, after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a rival's generic version of its hyperactivity drug Adderall XR. Analysts at Goldman Sachs said that the approval is a "negative relative to our expectations" and that they had not expected a generic approval before 2014.

U.K mining firms headed south while metals prices were mixed. Heavyweight Rio Tinto, Evraz and Vedanta Resources fell.

Banks were lower as investors looked toward a much anticipated European Union summit at the end of the week for any announcements on closer fiscal integration in the region and the creation of a banking union. Standard Chartered ticked lower, as did Lloyds Banking Group and Barclays.

Food retailer Wm Morrison Supermarkets dropped 2.4% after announcing that group Finance Director Richard Pennycook plans to step down from the board and leave the firm at the end of June 2013.

THE FTSE 100              @ 10:00             Down       27       @      5,486 THE DOW JONES            closed               Up         67       @     12640 THE NASDAQ               closed               Up         33       @      2892 Exchange Rates GBP – USD        @      10:00                  1.5567 GBP - EURO      @      10:00                  1.2448