RAMSEY CROOKALL & CO
20 APRIL 2011 Morning Report
Stocks have stormed ahead in early dealings, helped by some bullish updates
from big US companies after Wall Street closed last night.
Chipmaker Intel and web portal giant Yahoo! were among the big hitters to
impress traders.
Here, Intel’s peer ARM Holdings is leading the FTSE 100 higher, but it is the
mining sector that is driving most of the gains as metals prices advance.
Antofagasta leads large-cap miners higher.
Home products retailer Home Retail Group is in demand after announcing full-year
results. It announced the departure of catalogue-based chain Argos’s managing
director on the same day the Home Retail reported a sharp fall in profits due to
lower sales at Argos and predicted further sales declines. Home Retail’s pre-tax
profits for the year to 26 February came in at £254m, down 13% from the previous
year and in line with expectations.
Finally, mining leviathan BHP Billiton enjoyed record iron ore production and sales
in the first nine months of its financial year. Year to date production records were
also achieved for crude oil and condensate, the North West Shelf (Australia) and
manganese ore.
THE FTSE 100 AT 9.30 IS Up 92 @ 5989
THE DOW JONES CLOSED Up 65 @ 12,266
THE NASDAQ COMP CLOSED Up 9 @ 2744
Exchange Rates
GBP – USD 1.63
GBP - EURO 1.13
Researching your Manx family history can be a very interesting and rewarding hobby. Trace your roots in the Isle of Man with our helpful of guide.
