RAMSEY CROOKALL                                                                   21st   October 2011                                                                  Afternoon Report The FTSE 100 closed up 1.3% , as investors digested more EU-related headlines. In particular comments from German government sources, saying that Germany and France are now in concord over the EFSF bailout fund. Sector-wise, mining stocks rallied as base metals prices rebounded.

U.K. banks posted gains, with Barclays adding almost 6% and Royal Bank of Scotland Group trading up 3.6%. The banks followed the broader European financial sector higher, on hopes that Eurozone leaders will start coming up a credible plan to deal with the sovereign debt crisis at the weekend summit in Brussels. Thomas Cook rose after the troubled travel group said it had reached agreement with its bankers to amend the terms of its existing facilities while securing an extra £100m of headroom. Thomas Cook’s shares have fallen sharply after earnings were hit by a range of factors including economic weakness and turmoil in the Arab world.

Aggreko fell lower in earlier trading however, recovered to close up 0.37%.  The provider of temporary power for events such as sports contests and concerts, raising its profit guidance for the full year after a strong performance in the third quarter. It now says pre-tax profits for the full-year will be at least £320m, up slightly from its prediction in August that it would be around £315m Domino’s Pizza eased after two directors at the pizza delivery group sold a combined total of more than £12m in shares.

E 100  closed                                                          Up               103               @         5488 THE DOW JONES at 16:40                                                 Up               204               @         11745         NASDAQ COMP at 16:40                                                   Up                40               @         2639 

         Commodities

Spot Gold $/Oz           $1637                                         Up                       1.16 %     Brent Crude Oil          $110.70                                       Up                       0.80 % Exchange Rates GBP – USD               1.5943 GBP - EURO            1.1491