RAMSEY CROOKALL

23rd   September 2011

Afternoon Report

The FTSE 100 is down, erasing morning gains as lack of direction, thin volumes and continued concerns over global economic recovery weigh on markets. Mining stocks grind lower on falling metal prices. No data is scheduled this session. The focus now turns to the Wall Street open at 1330.

The pressure on mining stocks has continued after Thursday’s downbeat outlook from the U.S. Federal Reserve and grim data on China. Precious and base metals prices continued to fall, which weighed on miners such as Vedanta Resources PLC off 3.4%, Xstrata PLC down nearly 3%; and Kazakhmys PLC off 2.9%.

British Gas owner Centrica's North American subsidiary, Direct Energy, has greed to acquire the Texas-based energy retailer First Choice Power for $270m (£175m) in cash, plus additional working capital.

3i Group Plc (III.LN) said Friday that the value of the buyout firm's portfolio will decrease due to falling stock markets and the increasingly challenging economic outlook.

THE FTSE 100 at 12:00                            Down         83       @      4957

THE DOW JONES closed                             Down        391      @      10733                      NASDAQ COM closed                                Down         82      @       2455               Commodities Spot Gold $/Oz           $1704 Brent Crude Oil          $103.80 September Delivery   

Exchange Rates GBP – USD           1.5426 GBP - EURO         1.1464