RAMSEY CROOKALL

24  th  October 2011

Afternoon Report

The FTSE 100 is flat, extending gains, with investors hopeful that a solution to the euro-zone debt crisis will arise from Wednesday's meeting of the region's leaders. Banks  and miners lead the gainers, with news from the E.U.'s weekend summit suggesting the extent of the recapitalization of Europe's banks will be at the bottom end of expectations.   Lloyds Banking Group is up 3.25%, while Royal Bank of Scotland advances 0.75%.

The positive manufacturing data from China lifted copper prices on Monday, with copper futures up 4.08%. Kazakhmys, Antofagasta, Rio Tinto, Xstrata, BHP Billiton, Lonmin and Eurasian Natural Resources were higher in early trading.

Essar Energy, the India-focused integrated energy company, rose strongly after completing the 35 day shut-down of the 300,000 barrels-a-day Vadinar Refinery in western Gujarat on schedule. InterContinental Hotels Group was also higher after seeing like-for-like revenue per available room grow by 8% in the US during the third quarter, as occupancy rose by 3 percentage points.

Diamond miner Gem Diamonds rose after announcing that it is to pocket around $16.5m through the sale of the Letšeng Star, the 14th largest white diamond on record.

THE FTSE 100  at 12:00                            Up            1             @         5489 THE DOW JONES closed                              Up            267           @         11808        NASDAQ COMP closed                                Up            38            @         2637               Commodities Spot Gold $/Oz           $1653                                Up                0.80 %     Brent Crude Oil          $109.95                              Up                0.25 %

Exchange Rates GBP – USD               1.5922 GBP - EURO             1.1518



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