RAMSEY CROOKALL

28th  September 2011

MORNING REPORT

The FTSE 100 is slightly down , the index has pared losses from early trading, although investors continue to fret about the uncertainty in terms of size of bailout package for Greece and worries that the terms may be altered. US stock futures slide from highs, adding some pressure on the UK market. Mining stocks weigh as metal prices trade lower with copper dropping as much as 3.1% in the Asian session overnight. Antofagasta is down 2.3% and Xstrata down 1.89%. Other stocks weighing include, Man Group down 18%, after a disappointing trading update. No major domestic data is due.

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 1.74%. And Lloyds Banking Group PLC  fell 2.5%

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 10:20                        Down       3       @       5290

THE DOW JONES closed                         Up         146     @       11190                    NASDAQ COMP closed                           Up         30      @       2546              





Commodities Spot Gold $/Oz           $1658               Up              0.54% Brent Crude Oil          $106.60             Down           0.26 % September Delivery   

Exchange Rates GBP – USD           1.5643 GBP - EURO          1.1477