RAMSEY CROOKALL & CO 8th December 2010 EVENING REPORT

The 5,800 level came under pressure as a weak start on Wall Street began to drag London into negative territory, finishing 13 points lower.

Insurers Prudential, Aviva and Resolution did their best to keep the market’s head above water, but losses in the mining sector from Rio Tinto, Randgold and Anglo American have led the index to a fall.

It’s all go in the retail sector. Figures from the British Retail Council show shop price inflation fell for the first time in five months in November as nervous retailers slashed prices to make sure shoppers splash out in the run-up to Christmas.

Overall shop price inflation has fallen to 2% from 2.2% in October. Food inflation fell to 4% from 4.4% while non-food inflation fell to 0.9% from 1.1% the previous month.

Computer games retailer Game's shares were lower after it said margins this year will be down by between 1.6-1.9 percentage points due to the ferocious competition in the games and consoles market. Game was also wary over Christmas trading despite good demand for new blockbuster games and Microsoft's Kinect console.

Elsewhere, sticking with retail-related stocks, shares in Capital Shopping Centres, whose property portfolio includes Lakeside in Essex and the MetroCentre in Gateshead, were lower. Its US shareholder Simon Property Group hinted it may not bid for Capital unless it drops its plans to buy the Trafford Shopping Centre in Manchester.

Stagecoach delivered a 44% hike in half-year underlying profit, with contributions from all businesses, and the bus and rail group is on track for the full-year following a good start to the second half. Profit before tax for the six months ended 31 October, excluding exceptional items, rose from £75.5m to £108.7m.

THE FTSE 100 CLOSED DOWN 13 @ 5794

THE DOW JONES AT 4.30 IS DOWN 17 @ 11,341

THE NASDAQ COMP AT 4.30 IS ` UP 4 @ 2602

Exchange Rates

GBP – USD 1.57 GBP – EUR 1.18