RAMSEY CROOKALL & CO

EVENING REPORT 2 February 2011

A limp start on Wall Street isn’t helping London, but the leading index managed to close at the 6,000 level, supported by a strong mining sector and big gains at cigarette maker Imperial Tobacco.

Heavyweights BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto are both sporting solid gains, as are Lonmin, Xstrata and Vedanta. Precious metals miners Randgold and Fresnillo are joining in.

Elsewhere, pharmaceuticals giant GlaxoSmithKline has raised $1.7bn through the sale of its entire shareholding in US firm Quest Diagnostics. After the tax man has taken his slice the company expects to receive cash proceeds of around $1.1bn.

Speciality chemicals group Johnson Matthey said its underlying performance for the full year is expected to be slightly ahead of previous company expectations after third quarter profit rose by 34%.

JD Sports has confirmed speculation it has made an offer for struggling rival JJB Sports, though adds discussion are at a very early stage.

Finally, JJB unveiled the details of a £31.5m fund raising through a 19% increase in shares in issue. The new shares will be issued at 5p. It flagged the placing in December after warning it could breach its bank covenants.

THE FTSE 100 AT CLOSED UP 42 @ 6000 THE DOW JONES AT 4.30 IS UP 1 @ 12,041

THE NASDAQ COMP AT 4.30 IS UP 2 @ 2753

Exchange Rates

GBP – USD 1.61 GBP - EURO 1.17 ??

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