RAMSEY CROOKALL

9th  September

Afternoon Report

The FTSE 100 is down 0.6%, slightly off earlier lows but struggling to make headway with little fresh data on the schedule to provide direction. A sharp decline in U.K. PPI input prices on the month in August continues to weigh. In stocks, International Consolidated Airlines falls 3.5% after Espirito Santo says recent declines in airline prices suggest the market is starting to assume a renewed economic downturn. Outside the FTSE 100, Home Retail falls 4.9% and Debenhams loses 4.3% as Barclays Capital cuts its price targets on a sheaf of retail stocks.

US stocks dropped lower on Thursday as investors expressed their disappointment at the contents of a speech by Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke by forcing equity prices lower. Bernanke, speaking at the Economic Club of Minneapolis, more or less gave a reprise of the speech he made at the central bankers symposium at Jackson Hole, disappointing those hoping he might unveil some new measures to stimulate the US economy. Tullow Oil has risen 12% after announcing it had discovered oil off the coast of French Guiana. Among its partners in the project, Royal Dutch Shell PLC rose 0.4% and Total SA  gained 1.1% in Paris. Separately, Total also announced a major gas discovery in the Caspian Sea.

FTSE 250 oil and gas group Salamander Energy fell into the red after increasing its stake in Block G4/50, one of the largest blocks of prospective acreage in the Gulf of Thailand. Multi-metal mining colossus Rio Tinto is lower after saying that it is to invest $310m to assure a sustainable water supply for its iron ore operations in Pilbara, Western Australia.

THE FTSE 100 at 12:00                        Down        36      @       5304

THE DOW JONES closed                         Down        119     @      11295                       NASDAQ COM closed                            Down        19      @       2529           Commodities Spot Gold $/Oz           $1829 Brent Crude Oil          $114.18 September Delivery     Exchange Rates GBP – USD           1.5938 GBP - EURO         1.1540