RAMSEY CROOKALL

28th  September 2011

Afternoon Report

The FTSE 100 is flat, weak but off lows in a choppy session, helped by US stock futures ticking up after falling earlier. The London index is buoyed by some heavyweight stocks making strong gains on broker recommendation changes and upbeat corporate news. BG Group is up 2.9% and Johnson Matthey up 2.1%; both on rating upgrades by high-profile brokers. Smiths Group is up 2% as it pleases with final numbers. Despite the market paring losses, uncertainties over Greece's second bailout and a reported split among euro zone members over the terms of the package weigh on sentiment.

Banking stock optimism has fallen after the Financial Times reported rifts over the Greek bailout among euro-zone members. That weighed on banking stocks in Europe, with Barclays PLC and HSBC Holdings PLC each off 1.44%. Lloyds Banking Group PLC also has fallen 1.42% Hedge fund manager Man Group took investors by surprise though and the shares are sharply lower. It said statutory profit before tax on continuing operations for the six months ending 30 September 2011 totalled $145m, down from $180m at the interim stage last year.

Total funds under management at the end of September stood at $65.0bn, down from $71.0bn at the end of June and $69.1bn at the end of March 2011. Its flagship fund, AHL, generated $1.5bn of positive investment movement in the firm's second quarter, taking the half year total to +$0.9bn.

Oil firm Cairn Energy also falls back after its Greenland venture continues to disappoint. It has plugged and abandoned the Delta-1 exploration well in the Napariaq block of the West Disko Area. Meanwhile, drilling work has commenced on the AT2-1 well in the Attammik block, in the South Ungava area.

Sector peer Tullow is having better luck off the coast of Ghana, where the Enyenra-3A appraisal well, in the Deepwater Tano licence, has successfully encountered oil in high quality sandstone reservoirs. Pressure data indicates that the Enyenra-3A well has confirmed an up-dip extension of the Enyenra oil field.

THE FTSE 100 at 12:00 Up 5 @ 5299                

THE DOW JONES closed           Up         146   @    11190  

                 NASDAQ COMP closed              Up         30    @    2546  







            Commodities Spot Gold $/Oz           $1656          Up         0.44% Brent Crude Oil          $107.11        Up         0.19% September Delivery   

Exchange Rates GBP – USD           1.5672 GBP - EURO          1.1460