RAMSEY CROOKALL & CO April 5th  2012 Morning Report

The FTSE 100 down 0.3% at 5685.54, slipping into the red after disappointing UK data. Manufacturing output fell at its sharpest annual rate in more than two years in February, declining 1.0% from a month earlier and falling 1.4% on an annual basis. Economists polled by Dow Jones Newswires had forecast flat on the month, +0.1% on the year.

Fund manager Ashmore was the best performer in the opening hour after UBS upgraded its rating on the stock from neutral to buy, citing recent share price underperformance and strong inflows.

Following shortly behind were the miners after a poor showing yesterday. Vedanta Resources, Glencore, Kazakhmys, Fresnillo, Evraz, ENRC and Antofagasta were among the high risers. Sector peer Polymetal was trading slightly lower after revealing that proved and probably gold equivalent reserves fell by 10% in 2011.

Quality control services provider Intertek Group was in demand after it acquired ATI, a provider of asset integrity support services in the US power sector.

Utilities group National Grid and SSE were lower, joined by insurance peers Admiral, Resolution and Prudential.

Budget airline easyJet was flying slightly higher after reporting 4.4% more paid seats in March, compared to the same month a year before. The load factor also improved by 1.9 percentage points.

THE FTSE 100            @ 10:00         Down       10          @     5,693 THE DOW JONES           closed          Down       124         @    13074 THE NASDAQ              closed          Down       45          @     3068

Exchange Rates

GBP – USD       @      10:00                          1.5872 GBP - EURO     @      10:00                          1.2101