RAMSEY CROOKALL

1st July

Afternoon Report

The FTSE 100 is up 0.4%, rising higher. Banks are leading the upside, continuing to find favor amongst investors as some of the Greek worries fade. Lloyds Banking Group is up 3.3%, Royal Bank of Scotland up 2.9% and Standard Chartered up2.6%. Elsewhere, the US University of Michigan confidence index figures are out later this afternoon. Vodafone is down 0.3% after it announced plans to sell its entire 24.4% stake in Polish telecom operator Polkomtel to Spartan Capital Holdings SP for around 920 million euros ($1.34 billion).

The Capita Group, a business process outsourcing solutions and professional support services group announced today that it has acquired Ventura, a customer contact specialist for a cash consideration of GBP65 million on a cash-free, debt-free basis. Pub group Greene King, which yesterday reported a big rise in profits but also reported volatile trading since the year end, sending the shares lower, has won back some losses. However, Hovis bread maker Premier Foods suffers more losses after yesterday’s profit warning.

Water and waste management group Northumbrian Water has confirmed that it received a proposal about an offer from the Hong Kong infrastructure group Cheung Kong. The statement comes after Cheung King said on Monday that it was in the initial stages of sizing up an offer for the north-east England-based utility.

Astra-Zeneca, the FTSE-100 pharmaceuticals firm, has won approval to sell its drug Nexium in Japan. The drug helps in the treatment of acid related conditions, including peptic ulcer disease.

THE FTSE 100  at 12:00                            Up              23          @    5969

THE DOW JONES closed                          Up          152         @    12414

THE NASDAQ COMP closed                    Up              33         @    2773 

Exchange Rates

GBP – USD           1.6021 GBP - EURO         1.1055