RAMSEY CROOKALL

19th  October 2011

Evening Report

The FTSE 100 index rose 0.74%, after a loss of 0.5% in the prior session. The London index pared gains as U.S. markets traded lower in early action, with technology stocks weighing on the downside.

Shares of chip designer ARM Holdings fell after Apple earnings missed estimates on owing to a drop in iPhone sales. ARM designs chips for Apple products. The shares closed down 1.37%.

BSkyB rose today after it saw a strong rise in profits in the quarter to 30 September as it increased sales of all three products. Revenue rose to £1.66bn from £1.53bn over the same period the previous year the previous year, while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) climbed to £381m from £335m. The shares closed up 5%.

Home Retail fell sharply after sales and profits dropped at the company behind Homebase and Argos. Overall sales were down 6% to £2,568m in the half year to the end of August while profit before tax fell 70% to £28m and operating profit was down 72% at £27m. The shares closed down 17%.

GKN fell after announcing a pre-tax profit rise of just 1% in the third quarter.  After accounting for the final charge of £11m relating to its plant closure in the US, the automotive, aerospace and land systems engineer revealed that pre-tax profit was £89m in the three months ended 30 September, up just £1m from £88m the year before. The shares closed down 4.7%.

Global brewing company SABMiller announced that its sales rose 6% from a year earlier on robust demand in emerging markets, and announced a strategic alliance with Anadolu Efes across the Central Asia region. The shares closed up 0.70%.

Resources titan BHP Billiton reported strong quarterly growth in its production of iron ore and petroleum products, although it flagged lower volumes of copper from the large Escondida mine in Chile this financial year.

THE FTSE 100 closed                   Up         40          @         5450 THE DOW JONES at 16:40                Up         48          @         11625            NASDAQ COMP at 16:40                  Down       12          @         2644               Commodities Spot Gold $/Oz           $1648               Down                 0.36  %     Brent Crude Oil          $110.78             Down                 0.38 %







Exchange Rates USD  -  GBP            1.5808 GBP - EURO             1.1459