RAMSEY CROOKALL & CO

21st  June 2011 Afternoon Report

The FTSE 100 is up 0.7%, maintaining gains. Whitbread still tops the leaderboard, up 6.3%, after a positive trading update. SABMiller is down 3.2% after Foster's rejects its takeover bid. U.S. existing home sales data are later this afternoon. U.S. stock futures indicate a positive start for Wall Street. Strong sales growth at Costa coffee shops helped hotel and restaurant group Whitbread to offset subdued activity in its restaurant division to grow total sales by 9.2% in first quarter. Shares are over 5% higher.

Oil giant BP is heading higher after tying up another loose end relating to disputes over who should carry the can for the Deepwater Horizon tragedy in the Gulf of Mexico last year by coming to a settlement with US contractor Weatherford. Oil prices are also thought to be helping matters, with Brent crude futures and WTI crude futures higher.

Commodity prices are also helping the miners, with Kazakhmys and ENRC among the best performers on the blue chip index as copper, gold and silver futures rise by 0.59%, 0.15% and 0.19%, respectively.

Heading lower is brewing giant SABMiller after its £7.30bn offer for Australian rival Foster's Group was rejected by the Foster's board, as it "believes that the proposal significantly undervalues the company."

Providing a drag on the FTSE 250 however is Jupiter Fund Management after underwhelming the markets with its 3% growth in assets under management. "Against the backdrop of a more challenging flow environment, Jupiter has continued to make good progress," said chief executive, Edward Bonham-Carter.

THE FTSE 100 at 12:00                Up         43        @     5736

THE DOW JONES closed             Up         76         @    12080

THE NASDAQ COMP closed      Up         13         @    2629 

Exchange Rates GBP – USD           1.6200 GBP - EURO          1.1275