RAMSEY CROOKALL & CO

EVENING REPORT

11 OCTOBER 2010

The blue-chip index trod water over the day with the majority of leading stocks consolidating the morning’s gains.

Insurance giant Prudential is the day’s big faller, after a broker cut its rating on the stock from “neutral” to “underweight” on valuation grounds, though the target price has been hoisted 40p to 653p.

Oil titan BP, meanwhile, also sinks lower after Royal Bank of Scotland cut its recommendation on the stock from “buy” to “hold” while telecoms leviathan BT saw its rating cut to “underperform” from “market perform” by US broker Bernstein.

However, broker sentiment lifted satellite operator Inmarsat, with the stock upgraded from “neutral” to “buy”. Inmarsat closed up 13p at 644p.

Drugs companies AstraZeneca and Pozen said their jointly developed pain reliever Vimovo has received positive agreement for approval across 23 EU countries. Vimovo treats osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and ankylosing spondylitis.

Elsewhere, British defence company Cobham has been awarded a contract that allows it to compete for orders with the US missile Defense Agency worth up to $1.62bn. Cobham closed up 3p at 231p.

Finally, no-frills airline easyJet is going well after saying it has agreed a settlement to its acrimonious dispute with founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou over its continued use of the 'easy' name. The price is not cheap. For the next 50 years, easyJet will have to pay a royalty of 0.25% of revenues, fixed at £3.9m and £4.95m in the first and second years respectively.

THE FTSE 100 CLOSED UP 14 @ 5672

THE DOW JONES AT 4.30 IS UP 4 @ 11,010

THE NASDAQ COMP AT 4.30 IS UP 3 @ 2404

Exchange Rates

GBP – USD 1. 59

GBP – EUR 1. 14 ??

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