RAMSEY CROOKALL & CO

MIDDAY REPORT 12th January 2011

London has pushed on again in early dealings with miners leading the way and a mixed morning so far for retailers.

Supermarket giant J Sainsbury had its best Christmas ever, with better than expected sales, a growing market share and a record number of customers despite the snow.

Like for like sales excluding fuel rose 3.6% in the 14 weeks to 8 January, or 5.4% including petrol, while total sales grew 6% and 7.5% respectively. Shares in the supermarekt giant are down, though, with Marks & Spencer also under pressure.

Elsewhere, miners are the main driver for the index so far today, with good gains for Kazakhmys, ENRC and Vedanta.

Life groups are also seeing some buyers, with Prudential, Old Mutual and Legal & General all going well. Centrica's appeal to have competition restrictions lifted from its Rough gas storage facility in the North Sea has been rejected by the Competition Commission.

Bakery chain Greggs like-for-like sales rose 0.6% over the Christmas trading period while total sales climbed 3.5% as shoppers snapped up hot coffee and mince pies.

Finally, Restaurant Group, which owns the Garfunkel's, Chiquito and Frankie and Benny’s chains, expects full-year profits to be “just ahead” of the market consensus.

THE FTSE 100 AT NOON I S DOWN 20 @ 6034

THE DOW JONES CLOSED UP 34 @ 11,671

THE NASDAQ COMP CLOSED DOWN 3 @ 2716

Exchange Rates

GBP – USD 1.56 GBP – EUR 1.20

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