RAMSEY CROOKALL

19th  September

Afternoon Report

The FTSE 100 is down 1.9%, staying down as investors continue to worry about Greece and whether, or how fast, it's heading towards a debt default. In London, banks are suffering as fears about Greece's situation intensify. Lloyds Banking Group is the biggest decliner, down 6.6%. On the upside Randgold Resources is up 1.0%, helped up by the rising price of gold.

'Imperial Leather' soap maker PZ Cussons said performance in the second half of the year has been in line with expectations, but the company's margins are under threat from rising raw material costs. Shares fell lower.

Cheese and milk producer Dairy Crest rose after saying that the first half trading was in line and expressing confidence in full-year numbers.

Press reports about a possible fund-raising by Gulf Keystone have proved to be right. The AIM-listed oil and gas firm focused in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq confirmed it is considering its options with regards to an equity fund-raising. Shares fell into the red.

Recycled packaging and office products group DS Smith was among the few risers on the FTSE 250 after announcing the sale of its paper mill in Devon, as part its strategy to reduce paper production in order to focus on recycled packaging for consumer goods. Travel company TUI Travel has chosen power systems giant Rolls-Royce to provide Trent 700 engines to power two Airbus A330 aircraft, due in 2012. Both stocks were unwanted early on.

THE FTSE 100 at 12:00                 Down        103       @      5264

THE DOW JONES closed                  Up          75        @      11509                       NASDAQ COM closed                     Up          15        @      2622             Commodities Spot Gold $/Oz           $1821 Brent Crude Oil          $111.84 September Delivery   

Exchange Rates GBP – USD           1.5733 GBP - EURO         1.1513