RAMSEY CROOKALL

27th   July

Afternoon Report

The FTSE 100 is down 0.3%, moving off morning lows as mining shares push up on higher metal prices with the August gold delivery hitting a contract high of $1625.8/oz. However, the political stand-off over the U.S. debt ceiling continues to dampen sentiment, say traders. U.K. data doesn't help the tone with the CBI industrial trends survey showing manufacturers' output expectations and order books falling substantially in July. Energy supplier Scottish & Southern Energy was the heavy faller, tumbling 4.85%, on the same day that utilities firm British Gas (owned by Centrica) received a £2.5m fine for mishandling customer complaints. Centrica also fell lower, albeit by a lesser extent (-1.2%).

The miners were in demand as gold and silver futures head higher. Lonmin, Fresnillo and Randgold Resources are among the highest risers.

BG Group is higher, extending gains after Tuesday's results, while BP also also firmed, attempting to recover after yesterday's sell-off.

Terrestrial broadcaster ITV fell lower after warnings that the outlook for the TV advertising market remains uncertain, despite earnings and revenue beating estimates in the first half.

Interim figures from cigarettes maker British American Tobacco underwhelmed as shares fell lower, despite numbers coming in slightly ahead of expectations, as higher prices offset volume weakness.

THE FTSE 100 at 12:00                   Down          19        @      5909

THE DOW JONES closed                    Down          91        @       12501                             NASDAQ COMP closed                      Down          2         @       2839                                          Exchange Rates

GBP – USD          1.6385 GBP - EURO         1.1326