RAMSEY CROOKALL

Afternoon Report

28th October 2011

The FTSE 100 slips into the red. Royal Dutch Shell is down 2.4% after it was earlier downgraded to hold by Liberum. In addition to this, its European peers are in the red following lackluster earnings - both Total and Galp Energia fall following the release of 3Q results. Also, UK domestic banks lose their sparkle and are now negative. Lloyds Banking Group is 2.2% lower, Royal Bank of Scotland is down 1.4%. A disappointing Italian bond auction hurts sentiment somewhat, and investors are already re-assessing the European summit's sovereign debt plans, which had boosted markets across Europe, Thursday.

Chip designer ARM Holdings rose after yesterday confirming that its latest chip architecture will support 64-bit processing, which could expand its reach in the smartphone and tablet market.

Hammerson, the FTSE 100 retail-focused real estate firm, was in demand after selling off a further interest in the O'Parinor shopping centre in France for €106m, following the disposal of a majority interest last year.

Advertising firm WPP is higher after it said that revenue growth accelerated in the third quarter as strong growth in the emerging markets outweighed slowing growth in North America.

Africa and Russia-focused firm Victoria Oil & Gas PLC said its flagship Logbaba gas and condensate project in Cameroon is now approaching its initial production phase with first gas sales anticipated by the end of this year.

West Africa-focused gold miner Avocet Mining PLC said it increased its resource at its Koulekoun gold project, on the Tri-K block in northeast Guinea by 34% to 1.47 million troy ounces.

THE FTSE 100 at 12:00                Down        12        @      5701

THE DOW JONES closed                 Up         339        @     12208       NASDAQ COMP closed                   Up          87        @      2738              Commodities Spot Gold $/Oz           $1739                 Down           0.29 %     Brent Crude Oil          $110.0                Down           1.34 %

Exchange Rates GBP – USD               1.6105 GBP - EURO             1.1374