28th May 2012

Evening  Report

The FTSE finished flat  @ 5351.

Copper mining groups Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton were tracking copper prices higher on the back of falling stockpiles in China and favourable comments by Citigroup - Citi analyst Heath Jansen this morning adjusted his short-term view on the copper industry from bearish to neutral.

Oil and gas giant BG Group was making gains in the morning, helped by comments at Galvan Research and Trading who said that the shares, whilst currently below 1,300p, "are in bargain territory". It lost the gains by close of trading finishing slightly in the red (down 0.5%).

Shares in British Airways parent International Airlines Group (IAG) fell after the president of Bankia (which holds a 12% interest in IAG) said the bank would sell assets to raise much needed funds. As well, there are reports that Madrid will look to privatize stakes in state companies, which may include selling their stakes in companies such as IAG.

Outsourcing group Capita was on the up after UBS upgraded the stock from neutral to buy on the back of improving trading momentum combined with a depressed valuation. Aggreko was also benefitting from an upgrade from AlphaValue from sell to add.

Guiness owner Diageo was in demand in morning trading after saying that it is set to buy Ypioca, one of Brazil's largest cachaca brands in Brazil, for £300m in cash. It also finished flat/

Rolls-Royce, the global power systems company, was also higher after saying it has secured contract extensions with the Royal Air Force worth almost £100m.

THE FTSE 100 Closed           Flat         @   5,351

THE DOW JONES                 CLOSED  Memorial Day                             THE NASDAQ COMP               CLOSED Memorial Day

Exchange Rates

GBP – USD     @ 16.25           1.5692 GBP - EURO    @ 16.25           1.2516 ??

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