RAMSEY CROOKALL & CO

EVENING REPORT

7 DECEMBER 2010

US stocks opened higher on the back of the tax-cut deal between president Obama and the Republican party, London’s blue-chips added to the morning’s gains over the lunch time session.

US president Barack Obama has said that he will agree to a two-year extension on tax-cuts from the Bush era in a compromise arrangement that bodes well for working relations between the two parties for the remainder of Obama’s presidential term.

Miners and oil stocks led the risers in London as the price of crude cruised past the $90 per barrel mark. Antofagasta, ENRC and African Barrick were the pick of the miners, while Tullow Oil and Essar Energy lead the oil stocks higher.

Resurgent oil giant BP is also firmer on reports that some of its assets in the North Sea are to next on the chopping block, as the company’s asset sale programme continues.

Meanwhile, good momentum across its whole business helped supermarket giant Tesco, one of today’s best performers, lift sales by 8.8% in the past three months, though its international businesses again led the way. The UK also picked up towards the end of the quarter.

Elsewhere in the supermarket sector it has been a while since the frequently reheated rumour of the investment arm of the Qatari sovereign wealth fund reviving its interest in a takeover of Sainsbury but the story has done the rounds again today.

Anglo-Dutch household goods and foods giant Unilever was sharply higher after Morgan Stanley upped its ratings on the shares by two notches.

THE FTSE 100 CLOSED UP 38 @ 5808

THE DOW JONES AT 4.30 IS UP 51 @ 11,414

THE NASDAQ COMP AT 4.30 IS UP 15 @ 2610

Exchange Rates

GBP – USD 1.59 GBP – EUR 1.18