RAMSEY CROOKALL & CO EVENING REPORT 30 JUNE 2010

London stocks fluctuated this afternoon as the European Central Bank said it will need to lend banks less than economists had forecast although a US jobs report showed fewer jobs had been created for June.

Shares in Anglo-Swedish drugs giant Astrazeneca leapt 7% to ?31.69 after it received a favourable US ruling in its battle to keep control of the patents to its best selling cholesterol lowering drug Crestor.

BP closed 5% higher at 318p after a broker’s note suggested the company is ripe for takeover by a stronger rival such as Exxon Mobil or Royal Dutch Shell.

Rio Tinto fell 3% to ?29.68 on news it is to raise its stake in Ivanhoe Mines by 7.3% to 29.6% and provide sufficient funds to Ivanhoe to continue the development of the Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold complex as scheduled.

Standard Chartered fell 18p to ?16.41 after it confirmed that it is buying $500 million of the H shares being floated by Agricultural Bank of China, one of the top four commercial banks in China.

Oil services specialist Hunting said trading in the first half had been ‘very positive’ despite the BP oil spill and sluggish natural gas prices.

HMV announced results were in line with market expectations, while sales hit a record level of over ?2 billion. More importantly for income investors who have taken advantage of the stock’s 13% dividend yield, the full year dividend has been held at 7.4p.

Big hits such as ‘Avatar’ and ‘Iron Man’ helped cinema chain Cineworld overcome the competing attractions of the World Cup and lift revenue by 3.7% in the half year to June.

THE FTSE 100 CLOSED UP 2 @ 4916

THE DOW JONES AT 4.30 IS UP 33 @ 9903

THE NASDAQ AT 4.30 IS UP 16 @ 2151

Exchange Rates

GBP – USD 1. 49

GBP – EUR 1. 22