RAMSEY CROOKALL & CO MORNING REPORT 23 JUNE 2010

Last night’s late sell off in the US has hit London stocks this morning with miners down across the board led by heavyweights Xstrata, Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton.

Tobacco companies are a bright spot, which is unusual after the Budget. But the chancellor left the industry alone yesterday, which has encouraged buyers of both BATs and Imperial Tobacco.

In company news, Kesa Electricals, the owner of Comet, traded in line with expectations during the twelve months to 30 April on higher sales at its Darty chain in France.

Rail and bus firm Stagecoach’s profits beat market expectations despite raising earnings guidance as recently as the end of April. Underlying profit before tax in the year to 30 April were ?161.3 million, down from ?196.4 million the year before.

Premier Inn owner Whitbread would be interested in snapping up rival low budget hotel chain Travelodge were its owners to put it up for sale, newspaper reports suggest.



THE FTSE 100 AT 9.45 IS DOWN 28 @ 5218

THE DOW JONES CLOSED DOWN 148 @ 10,293

THE NASDAQ COMP COSED DOWN 27 @ 2261



Exchange Rates

GBP – USD 1. 486

GBP – EUR 1. 208