RAMSEY CROOKALL & CO

EVENING REPORT 28 January 2011

The FTSE 100 closed substantially lower this afternoon, with consumer stocks weaker after UK consumer confidence in January slumped in January, as the VAT rise kicked in. Insipid weekly trading figures from department store group John Lewis did not help sentiment.

With the price of the most actively traded gold futures contract hitting its lowest level since 4 October yesterday there was little enthusiasm for precious metals miners Fresnillo and African Barrick.

Elsewhere, continued civil unrest in popular holiday destinations hit the share price of package tour firm TUI Travel .

Drugs giant GlaxoSmithKline was lower ahead of results next week. Glaxo and Actelion announced today they are halting joint development of their late-stage insomnia drug. Almorexant, citing tolerance concerns.

Housebuilders subside after stockbroker Liberum issued a downbeat research note on the sector. Persimmon has had its rating cut from “hold” to “sell”, while all other operators in Liberum’s housebuilding universe have had their price targets cut, except for Bovis . Carpet seller Carpetright, due to release a Christmas trading update next week, takes collateral damage.

Finally, satellite operator Inmarsat saw its share price gain altitude. The company has commenced phase 2 of its agreement with LightSquared which has led to an immediate payment to Inmarsat of $20.1m.

THE FTSE 100 CLOSED DOWN 83 @ 5881

THE DOW JONES AT 4.30 IS DOWN 103 @ 11,885

THE NASDAQ COMP AT 4.30 IS DOWN 39 @ 2715

Exchange Rates

GBP – USD 1.58 GBP - EURO 1.16