RAMSEY CROOKALL & CO

15th March 2012 Evening Report

The FTSE 100 index ends 0.1% lower at 5940.72, underperforming European peers after taking a hit from Wednesday's UK outlook cut to negative by Fitch, saying the country's financial flexibility was limited. Despite the softness in London, the mood remains positive on the whole, with US economic data continuing its strong run. Weekly jobless claims, Empire State manufacturing and the Philadelphia Fed survey all beat market expectations, lifting sentiment. Banks and miners benefitted from the improved mood. The index has reached 8-month highs this week, offering investors an excuse to book some profits.

Pharmaceuticals firm Shire was the biggest blue-chip faller after it withdrew its license application for the Fabry disease treatment, REPLAGAL, with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Richard Brasher, the head of Tesco's UK operations, is to quit after only a year in the job. The move comes after Group Chief Executive Officer, Philip Clarke, said he would take a much closer involvement in the UK business" following the supermarket firm's first profit warning in 20 years.

Power systems developer Rolls-Royce announced another big contract win, this time to design and equip four deep-water platform supply vessels for Hyundai. The contract is worth more than £45m to Rolls-Royce and includes options for a further two of the vessels, which are designed to supply equipment and services to deep-water oil and gas platforms.

Miners were also recovering after yesterday's losses as metal floor prices climbed higher, with the exception of gold. Kazakhyms, Vedanta and Rio Tinto were all making strong gains, while Randgold Resources took a hit.

Essar Energy may be about to be kicked out of the FTSE 100 at the close of play on Friday following the latest quarterly reshuffle, but its shares lead the index at today’s close. They have climbed to 115p after it completed another stage in the expansion of its Vadinar refinery in India.

THE FTSE 100 closed Down 4 @ 5,940 THE DOW JONES @ 17:00 Up 37 @ 13,194 THE NASDAQ @ 17:00 Up 18 @ 3040

Exchange Rates

GBP – USD @ 17:00 1.5715 GBP - EURO @ 17:00 1.2010