RAMSEY CROOKALL & CO

EVENING REPORT

5 OCTOBER 2010

Winners outnumber losers by about three to one among FTSE 100 constituents as London participates in the advance of global stock markets following the Bank of Japan’s decision to cut its benchmark interest rate.

Travel firm TUI Travel leads the market higher after it allayed fears about full year trading by saying it is confident results will be in line with previous guidance. Summer holiday bookings in the year to September 26 were up, year on year, in all regions except the Netherlands, which showed a 2% fall. Gains per region were as follows: UK +2%; Nordic region +17%; Germany +5%; France +11%; Belgium +4%.

Staying with the travel world British Airways is wanted after it emerged that the company has recalled two of its aircraft from storage facilities in the desert in order to meet increased demand. No frills airline Easyjet rose on the back of British Airways positive news, closing up at 386p.

Supermarket giant Tesco's first half profits surged 12% despite sluggish underlying sales in the UK. Pre-tax profits rose to £1.6bn in the half year to August on sales up 8.3% to £32.9bn including VAT. All regions saw an improved trading performance in the second quarter over the first, Tesco said. Group sales increased by 8.8% over the latest three months. The shares finished the day up 1p at 431p.

Finally, Northern Foods returned to sales growth in the second quarter as chilled foods and bakery did well, offsetting the ongoing problems with its Goodfella's frozen pizza business. Like-for-like sales in the 26 weeks to September increased by 3.0% reflecting a 7.1% second quarter improvement as chilled foods rose sales by 16.4% and bakery sales jumped 10.9%.

THE FTSE 100 CLOSED UP 79 @ 5635

THE DOW JONES AT 4.30 IS UP 161 @ 10,914

THE NASDAQ COMP AT 4.30 IS UP 44 @ 2388

Exchange Rates

GBP – USD 1. 5821 GBP – EUR 1. 157

??

??

??

??