RAMSEY CROOKALL & CO

21st  November 2011

Evening Report

The FTSE 100 finishes down 2.6% with concerns about the euro zone and the US weighing heavily. Moody’s Investors Service warned of risks to France’s AAA credit rating owing to higher borrowing costs. It also said German banks faced key risks due to their exposure to troubled euro-zone countries.  Meanwhile, there are worries that US politicians will not agree on a deficit-reduction plan in time for this Wednesday's deadline. In London, banks and miners are the biggest decliners.

Insurance giant Resolution fell over 7.5% lower after confirming that talks regarding the possible acquisition of Phoenix Group have been terminated. Phoenix, on the other hand, roared higher on the FTSE 250 after saying that it has received a number of approaches from other parties, most notably private equity firm CVC Capital Partners.

Centrica signed a deal with the Norwegian company Statoil to buy £13bn worth of gas over ten years. In a separate transaction, Centrica has also announced it is to buy some of Statoil’s assets in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea for £965m, with a further £63m to be paid on the future performance of the assets.

Miners were among the worst performers with signs of a slowdown in Asia likely fuelling demand concerns. Fresnillo, Rio Tinto and Vedanta Resources suffered heavy losses on the blue chip index, joined by Centamin Egypt, Kenmare Resources and Aquarius Platinum on the FTSE 250.

Among energy-related stocks, Petrofac Ltd shed 6.32%, BG Group PLC fell 3.94% and Essar Energy PLC sank 6.25%. Tracking moves across Europe, retailers were also under pressure, with Burberry Group PLC trading down 4.98% and Next PLC slipping 2.6%.

THE FTSE 100 Closed                                Down      140      @      5,222

THE DOW JONES          @ 16.40            Down      332      @    11,463

THE NASDAQ COMP  @ 16.40             Down      62       @     2,509

Exchange Rates

GBP – USD     @ 16.40        1.5638 GBP - EURO    @ 16.40        1.1577