RAMSEY CROOKALL & CO

MIDDAY REPORT 22 DECEMBER 2010

Company news is thin on the ground as Christmas approaches and the leading share index is little changed following recent gains that have brought it to 2½-year highs.

ARM Holdings is a notable riser, with the chipmaker's shares up 10%. Software giant Microsoft is expected to announce a new operating system that run's on ARM's technology.

BSkyB is higher following news that business secretary Vince Cable has been stripped of his power to rule on News Corporation’s takeover of BSkyB after telling undercover reporters he had “declared war on Rupert Murdoch”. Cable kept his job on the insistence of LibDem leader Nick Clegg, but David Cameron called Cable's comments "totally unacceptable and inappropriate".

British Land and Oxford Properties, the real-estate arm of Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (Omers) pension fund, have put pen to paper and signed contracts for a 50:50 joint venture to develop a new skyscraper in the heart of the City. The company, which mothballed the project during the recession, said the 736 ft (224m) ‘Cheesegrater’ is already generating strong interest from insurance and financial companies, and professional and corporate business sectors. It will cost £340m and should be finished by the middle of 2014.

Finally, construction and engineering group Costain has emerged as one of the companies that has made an approach to struggling support services group Mouchel. Costain announced today that it approached Mouchel’s board on 2 December, with a view to making an offer comprising 0.5135 Costain shares for every Mouchel one, valuing Mouchel at 105.8p based on Costain’s closing price yesterday.

THE FTSE 100 AT NOON IS UP 12 @ 5964

THE DOW JONES CLOSED UP 55 @ 11,533

THE NASDAQ COMP CLOSED ` UP 18 @ 2667

Exchange Rates

GBP – USD 1.54 GBP – EUR 1.17