RAMSEY CROOKALL & CO

EVENING REPORT 29 December 2010

The FTSE 100 failed to stay above 6,000 today and has been heading downwards since just after 9am. The US FDA said that testing and validation methods at Smith & Nephew’s Tuttlingen plant in Germany violate rules.

Blizzards in the US are driving oil prices to a 26-month high above $91 a barrel. Heating oil prices in particular are rising. Royal Dutch Shell was one of the best performers this morning but it lost a large chunk of those early gains.

Miners were mixed with gold miners rising on the back of concerns about the bond markets. African Barrick Gold was the best of the risers this lunch time alongside Randgold Resources.

Elsewhere, banks were weak on worries over the debt issues facing the eurozone. Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds are both under pressure.

Smith & Nephew was weak on yesterday's decision by the US Food and Drug Administration to issue a warning about production methods at a S&N factory in Germany that makes hip replacements.

Finally, BT (2.4p a share interim), Burberry (5p a share interim), Experian (5.71p a share interim) and Alliance Trust (2.06p third quarter) were all ex-dividend today. Alliance is unchanged, while BT has fallen by less than one-half of its dividend. The other two have fallen by more than their interim dividend payment.

THE FTSE 100 CLOSED DOWN 12 @ 5996

THE DOW JONES AT 4.30 IS UP 25 @ 11,601

THE NASDAQ COMP AT 4.30 IS UP 4 @ 2666

Exchange Rates

GBP – USD 1.54 GBP – EUR 1.17