RAMSEY CROOKALL & CO

1St December 2011

Evening Report

European stock markets veered between losses and gains on Thursday, a day after a central-bank-induced rally, with investors eyeing mixed results from Spanish and French bond auctions and a downbeat survey of the region’s manufacturing sector. The FTSE closed down 0.29%. Resolution continued to rise following yesterday's news that the High Court has approved its scheme to transfer certain parts of its businesses to Friends Provident Life and Pensions Limited, the main UK life assurance company owned by the company's subsidiary, Friends Life Group. The transfer will enable the company to undertake a further £250m cash return to shareholders in 2012, subject to market conditions and regulatory approvals.

Kingfisher rose after the group delivered a third quarter retail profit of £273m, up from £240m last year and £10m ahead of Investec’s (and consensus) expectations. However, the broker notes a “surprising” fall in profits in Poland. The broker has reiterated its hold rating given the “undemanding valuation metrics”.

Power systems giant Rolls-Royce  has secured a $350m contract from Hawaiian Airlines to deliver Trent 700 engines to power five Airbus A330 aircraft. The aircraft, which are to be delivered from 2013 to 2015, will add to the airline's current fleet of five Trent 700-powered A330s and another 12 to be delivered.

Engineers and miners  proved to be a drag on the index throughout the day, with IMI leading the way lower. GKN was no different, having offloaded its Aerospace Engineering Services Business in the UK and Australia to QuEST Global Services and QuEST Global Engineering for an undisclosed sum.

Marks & Spencer also took a hit after Investec downgraded the stock from buy to hold.   THE FTSE 100 closed                Down           16                      @   5,489 THE DOW JONES @ 16:45              Down           39                      @   12,006

THE NASDAQ COMP @ 16:45            Down           4                       @   2,616   Exchange Rates

GBP – USD     @ 16:45             1.5684 GBP - EURO   @ 16:45             1.1650