RAMSEY CROOKALL & CO      19th March 2012       Morning Report

The FTSE 100 is down 1.0% at 5903.44, falling a touch further into the red following the release of UK inflation data. The consumer price index rose 3.4% on the year in February, compared with a rise of 3.6% in January, the lowest annual rate of inflation since November 2010. However, this exceeded economist expectations of 3.3.

Cable & Wireless worldwide shot higher, rising 7% on reports India's Tata is readying a formal offer for the UK FTSE 250 company.

Miners were the laggards of the morning after BHP Billiton warned of slowing steel production in China. “The big infrastructure build clearly will come to some end," BHP's iron ore President Ian Ashby told reporters in Perth. “Steel growth rates will flatten, and they have flattened, and we still see positive growth out to the middle of the next decade.”

BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto, Randgold, Vedanta, Kazakhmys, Antofagasta, Fresnillo, ENRC and Anglo American dominated the fallers list early on.

Shares of Royal Bank of Scotland fell on reports that it is to close its equity capital market and corporate finance units in South Korea, alongside its cash equities businesses in Indonesia, Korea and Singapore. A total of 70 persons will be affected by the moves. Sector peers HSBC, Barclays and Lloyds were also out of favour early on.

Chip designer ARM Holdings was a high riser of the morning after Barclays Capital raised its rating from equal weight to overweight and Investec upgraded the stock from hold to buy. Utilities peers National Grid and United Utilities were also being helped higher by upgrades from HSBC and Nomura, respectively.

Concerns about Anglo-Swedish drugs giant AstraZeneca's pipeline are likely to increase as the company abandoned work on its anti-depressant treatment TC-5214, which it developed in conjunction with US peer Targacept. Shares edged lower.

Advertising and media giant WPP fell after announcing its 10th acquisition for the year, buying a minority stake in Pakistan-based marketing agency Coverge Technologies for an undisclosed sum. Office space provider Regus fell over 6% despite reporting operating profits that more than doubled in 2011. The firm said profits came in at £50.6m, up from £23.9m in 2010, with sales up 12% to £1.16bn, in line with analysts expectations. The company said it would open 200 new offices this year.

SuperGroup, the fast-growing owner of the Superdry brand, rose after revealing that it is to change its finance director and create a new role of chief operating officer.















Oil firm Cairn Energy advanced after it racked up a $1.19bn loss in 2011 but said it was still optimistic about striking it big in Greenland.

THE FTSE 100 @ 10:00                   Down                 4       @      5,961 THE DOW JONES closed                   Up                   6      @    13,239 THE NASDAQ closed                      Up                   23      @      3078 Exchange Rates GBP – USD       @      10:00                         1.5865 GBP - EURO     @      10:00                         1.2025



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