RAMSEY CROOKALL & CO
7 APRIL 2011 Afternoon Report
The FTSE 100 has moved into negative territory as the Bank of England keeps
interest rates unchanged at 0.5% as was widely anticipated.
The retail sector has come back down to earth following a brief respite yesterday
when M&S unexpectedly posted quarterly sales growth.
Bicycle and car part retailer Halfords predicted a continuing tough trading environment
as it posted a sharp fall in like-for-like sales in the 13 weeks to 1 April. Like-for-
like sales from the company’s retail outlets were down by 6.8% from the same period the
previous year,
Paper and packaging firm Mondi is to hive off its South African packaging business.
Mondi will demerge Mondi Packaging South Africa (MPSA) as it believes MPSA’s future growth
plans, especially with regard to its rigid plastics business, are constrained by the Mondi
Group's differing strategic focus.
Anglo-Swedish drugs leviathan AstraZeneca has received approval from the US Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) for its thyroid cancer treatment Vandetanib.
Talvivaara Mining is the heaviest faller among larger stocks. The Finnish miner was the
worst performing FTSE 250 stock in early trading on Thursday after it lowered annual
production guidance to take into account longer than previously anticipated maintenance
breaks.
THE FTSE 100 AT 12:00 DOWN 13 @ 6027
THE DOW JONES ClOSED UP 32 @ 12,426
THE NASDAQ COMP CLOSED UP 8 @ 2799
Exchange Rates
GBP – USD 1. 63
GBP - EURO 1.14
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