RAMSEY CROOKALL

19th  October 2011

Morning Report

The FTSE 100 is  up following the release of the Bank of England's rate setting meeting minutes. The minutes show members were unanimous in voting for GBP75B of asset purchases, as expected. Banks lead gains as the market is convinced an agreement on the expansion of the EFSF is nearing.

BSkyB is wanted 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.

However, it is banks that are setting the pace. Barclays, RBS and Lloyds are all posting good gains.

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.

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.

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 at 10:20                  Up        56           @      5466

THE DOW JONES closed                  Up        180          @      11577             NASDAQ COMP closed                     Up         42          @      2657               Commodities Spot Gold $/Oz           $1651                    Down           0.20  %     Brent Crude Oil          $110.65                  Down           0.42  %

Exchange Rates GBP – USD          1.5780 GBP - EURO             1.1398