RAMSEY CROOKALL & CO

EVENING REPORT 10 th December 2010

A mixed start on Wall Street failed to lift the FTSE 100 out of its early sluggishness.

Miners went well today, after strong Chinese import figures demonstrated the Asian economic powerhouse’s thirst for commodities. Imports jumped to 37.7% from 24.2%. Vedanta, Fresnillo and ENRC were amongst the top risers.

In economic news producer output prices rose less than expected in November having surged the previous month.

The amount charged for goods leaving factories rose by 3.9% from the same period a year ago against expectations of a 4.1% rise. Prices were up by 0.3% from the previous month, much less than the 0.6% month-on-month rise seen in October.

Standard Chartered suffered with investors still a little unsettled by its admission yesterday that costs are rising faster than revenues. BofA Merrill Lynch has lowered its rating on the bank to ‘neutral’ from ‘buy’. Standard Chartered closed down 41p at £17.63. Elsewhere, property company British Land and investment firm Blackstone Group have submitted planning application for 5 Broadgate, the office building in the City that initially will be let out to Swiss banking giant UBS.

Down a division, infrastructure specialist Balfour Beatty won a contract extension in conjunction with London Underground. The five-year contract, worth around £110m to Balfour Beatty, is to carry out track renewal work.

Finally, Flybe, Britain’s biggest domestic airline, priced its flotation at 295p, valuing the carrier at £215m. Conditional dealings start this morning. The airline will sell 20.4m new shares, some 28% of the company, which will raise about £60m for the carrier.

THE FTSE 100 CLOSED UP 2 @ 5810

THE DOW JONES AT 4.30 IS UP 7 @ 11,377

THE NASDAQ COMP AT 4.30 IS UP 4 @ 2206

Exchange Rates

GBP – USD 1.57 GBP – EUR 1.19