RAMSEY CROOKALL

17th  October 2011

Evening Report

London's leading share index climbed higher in early trading, with financial and mining stocks leading, before optimism gave way to doubt as the index struggled to hold onto gains. The FTSE 100 closed down 0.54%.

BP rose 4.15% today after it reached agreement with Anadarko Petroleum to settle all claims between the companies related to the Deepwater Horizon accident. Anadarko, which had a 25% interest in the Macondo prospect, will pay BP $4bn in a single cash payment.

BP will apply the payment to the $20bn trust it established that is available to meet individual, business and government claims, as well as the cost of the natural resource damages. Anadarko will also transfer all of its 25% interest in the MC252 (Macondo) lease to BP.

Heading the other way was G4S which has lost over 20.0% of its market value after announcing plans to create the world's largest security and facilities services group with the huge £5.2bn purchase of ISS. The transaction will be funded through a combination of new debt facilities and a seven for six rights issue at a price of 122p, a hefty discount to Friday's closing price of 275.2p, which will raise around £2bn.

Aviva PLC gained 2.39% after the firm was upgraded to buy from neutral at UBS, which said that the stock’s recent underperformance should be reversed if euro-zone policy makers are able to bring the debt crisis under control.

Engineering software group AVEVA rose in early trading but closed flat for the day after stating a reorganisation in China should deliver solid growth in the second half of the year. Elsewhere, online fashion retailer ASOS was under pressure after announcing that second-quarter sales growth figures were down from the first three months of the year. The shares closed down 2.7%

THE FTSE 100 closed                      Down          29       @       5436

THE DOW JONES at 16:40                   Down          131      @       11512              NASDAQ COMP at 16:40                     Down           24      @       2643               Commodities Spot Gold $/Oz           $1681                  Up              0.07 %     Brent Crude Oil          $111.08                Down            1.23  %

Exchange Rates GBP – USD           1.5775 GBP - EURO        1.1456