RAMSEY CROOKALL & CO
21 MARCH 2011 EVENING REPORT
Stocks were largely in consolidation mode in the afternoon session after a
strong performance this morning.
Telecoms titan Vodafone was a high riser on the back of AT&T’s $39bn bid for
Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile USA. If the bid is allowed, the enlarged firm will
become number one, but both AT&T and Verizon Wireless - in which Vodafone has a
45% stake - will have huge market power in the fast growing mobile data, video
and apps market. Sector peer BT also got a lift from news of the deal. The stock
closed up 6p at 176p.
Mining giant Rio Tinto is higher after extending the acceptance period for its
A$3.9bn bid for Australian coal miner Riversdale by three days to 6 April. The
UK miner now either owns or has received acceptances in respect of 34.94% of
Riversdale shares, up from 33.04% last Friday. Sector peer Xstrata is also making gains.
UK energy companies will be referred to the Competition Commission this year unless they
make their bewildering array of tariffs easier to understand. Industry regulator Ofgem
says customers are being “bamboozled” by a complex system of tariffs that’s risen from
180 to over 300 since 2008. National Grid and International Power are among the few FTSE
100 stocks in the red.
British gas owner Centrica was another on the slide, with the fall more likely due to
the Ofgem pronouncement than the $90m acquisition announced this morning of New York-
based energy retailer Gateway Energy Services.
Finally, defence firm Cobham won a contract with US aerospace and defence giant Boeing
to manufacture more than 400 bomb racks for the US Air Force.
THE FTSE 100 CLOSED UP 67 @ 5786
THE DOW JONES AT 4.40 IS UP 187 @ 12,045
THE NASDAQ COMP AT 4.40 IS UP 51 @ 2694
Exchange Rates
GBP – USD 1.6287
GBP - EURO 1.1466
Monday 21st, March 2011 05:10pm.
