RAMSEY CROOKALL & CO

MIDDAY REPORT

19 OCTOBER 2010

London has recovered from an early blip as investors get ready for tomorrow's comprehensive spending review.

Banks are largely responsible for the revival with Barclays, Standard Chartered and RBS all ahead.

Autonomy is flat even though chief Mike Lynch said growth prospects for the data search software giant remain good. Third quarter profits in the three months to September rose to $57.6m from $48.6m as sales climbed 10% to a record $211m. Underlying operating profits rose by 34% to $86.3m.

Chip designer Arm is also lower after Apple's figures last night. The tech giant's profits rose by 70% but iPad sales missed some forecasts. Arm is a big supplier to Apple.

First half underlying pre-tax profits from Premier Inn and Costa Coffee owner Whitbread were in line with market expectations but the company had a pleasant surprise on the dividend front.

The cloud over sportswear retailer Sports Direct International has been lifted as the company indicated that no charges will be brought against it by the Serious Fraud Office. Finally, housebuilder Bellway bounced back into profit and upped its final dividend as the housing market stabilised though it says "buyer confidence slowly ebbed away during the summer" and sales have picked up only slightly recently.

THE FTSE 100 AT NOON IS UP 13 @ 5755

THE DOW JONES CLOSED UP 80 @ 11,143

THE NASDAQ COMP CLOSED UP 11 @ 2480

Exchange Rates

GBP – USD 1. 579

GBP – EUR 1. 334 ??

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