RAMSEY CROOKALL & CO May 30th 2012

Evening Report

The FTSE 100 closed 1.7% lower at 5297.28. Miners lead the declines as China announced it  would implement huge stimulus measures, and as worries over Spain rumble on.

Utility provider Severn Trent was leading way higher despite pre-tax profits falling 38% in the year to the end of March. The group announced a special dividend and said it forecast no water restrictions for customers this year.

Meanwhile, several stocks were falling after going ex-dividend - trading without the right for their latest dividend payouts - including National Grid, Capital Shopping Centres Group, and AMEC.

AMEC, the engineering and project management group, announced this morning that it has acquired a Brisbane-based consulting, engineering and technical services business to expand its Environment and Infrastructure service offering in Australia.

Mining groups Vedanta and Rio Tinto were firmly out of favour as hopes of a stronger Chinese economy fade. Even Glencore was lower despite revealing that its takeover of agricultural business Viterra has moved a step closer after Viterra passed a special resolution.

THE FTSE 100             closed            Down      97        @      5,297 THE DOW JONES            @ 17:00           Down      147       @     12433 THE NASDAQ               @ 17:00           Down     33        @      2837 Exchange Rates

GBP – USD       @      17:00                        1.5530 GBP - EURO      @      17:00                        1.2516

??

??

??

??