RAMSEY CROOKALL & CO

EVENING REPORT

18 OCTOBER 2010

Leading shares added to the morning’s gains over the afternoon session though miners remain under a cloud as metal prices retreat.

Mining giants BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto have confirmed that their proposed $116bn Pilbara iron ore joint venture is dead in the water. he companies had agreed in December of last year to establish a production joint venture covering the entirety of both companies' Western Australian iron ore assets, but the hook-up has run into regulatory opposition, prompting the companies to abandon the idea.

Other miners were also in the doldrums as metal prices flagged. The nine biggest fallers among the FTSE 100 constituents are all miners. A note from HSBC suggesting that investors should switch from stocks with exposure to copper to those in the aluminium sector has put a dent in the share prices of Antofagasta, Vedanta and Xstrata . HSBC rates both Antofagasta and Xstrata as “sells” and no longer rates Vedanta as worth buying.

BP has sold its upstream businesses and associated interests in Venezuela and Vietnam to TNK-BP for a $1.8bn. TNK-BP, Russia's third largest oil company, is owned equally by BP and the AAR consortium, which is comprised of Alfa Group, Access Industries and Renova.

In banking, Lloyds Banking Group edged higher after Goldman Sachs lifted its price target for the stock.

Finally, loss making Clipper Windpower is to be bought out by its 49.9% shareholder, US engineering giant UTC, in a cash deal that values the wind turbine maker at £139.5m and its shares at 65p.

THE FTSE 100 CLOSED ` UP 39 @ 5742

THE DOW JONES AT 4.30 IS UP 34 @ 11,096

THE NASDAQ COMP AT 4.30 IS UP 1 @ 2468

Exchange Rates

GBP – USD 1. 5890

GBP – EUR 1. 1380 ??

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