RAMSEY CROOKALL & CO May 10th  2012

Evening  Report

The FTSE 100 closed 0.3% higher at 5543.95, as some investors picked up bargains after recent heavy losses, amid signs that Greek political parties are close to forming a coalition government and following better-than-expected US labor data. Banks and miners are among the best performers.

Anglo-Dutch consumer goods firm Reckitt Benckiser was firmly lower after its biggest shareholder (JAB) sold around a third of its holding (4.9 per cent of the issued share capital of Reckitt). The shares  were sold at 3,350p a pop, raising a total of £1.2bn for JAB.

Experian, the credit check and financial data company, dropped after reporting underlying earnings below expectations for the full year to the end of March, while announcing the sale of its PriceGrabber price comparison service.

Telecoms titan BT was also lower after full-year revenue slipped 4.0%. Underlying revenue excluding transit revenue was down 1.9% for the year, within the group's target range, but underlying pre-tax profit rose 17% to beat expectations.

Meanwhile, miners performed well despite gloomy Chinese data sparking concerns over demand for commodities from the world's second-largest economy. Polymetal, Kazakhmys and ENRC were on the rise with the latter making gains despite seeing a "significant" decline in group revenue in the first quarter, mainly as a result of a strong comparator and falling commodities prices.

South African financial conglomerate Old Mutual was also a strong riser after saying it saw positive net client cash flows throughout the group in the first quarter, while sales continued to be strong in emerging markets.

THE FTSE 100              closed            Up           13      @    5,543 THE DOW JONES            @ 17:00            Up          37      @     12872 THE NASDAQ               @ 17:00            Down          1      @     2932 Exchange Rates

GBP – USD       @      17:00             1.6159 GBP - EURO     @      17:00             1.2471



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