RAMSEY CROOKALL & CO MIDDAY MARKET REPORT 10 JUNE 2010

The FTSE 100 has recovered from early falls as the Bank of England leaves interest rates unchanged at 0.5%.

BP shares slumped 16% in heavy US trade last night and 11% in London this morning before bargain hunters emerged to lift the stock off its lows. Rumours circulated that the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster could force the business into bankruptcy, or at the very least cause it to axe the dividend. The cost of the spill has now reached $1.43 billion.

Home Retail Group, down 10p at 227p complained of weak consumer demand as it reported a decline in like for like sales at both its Argos and Homebase stores in the 13 weeks to 29 May. Argos sales were down by 8.1% on a year ago, while Homebase suffered a less painful 1.4% decline.

Car parts and bicycle retailer Halfords said it is confident of future earnings growth after posting a sharp rise in profits and revenues. Pre tax profits climbed to ?117.1 million from ?92.4 million on revenues that were up to ?831.6 million from ?794 million. The shares are up 7% at 534p.

Britain’s biggest coal miner UK Coal and energy sector support services group Hargreaves Services announced they no longer intend to merge. Hargreaves said that ‘while recognising that UK Coal has many valuable assets, it does not intend to pursue such a merger’.

Avocet Mining has rebuffed press speculation that it has sold its South East Asian mines and that the company itself was on the verge of being sold. The mining firm said these reports are ‘incorrect and without foundation’.



THE FTSE 100 AT 12.45 IS UP 17 @ 5103

THE DOW JONES CLOSED DOWN 40 @ 9899

THE NASDAQ COMP CLOSED DOWN 11 @ 2158

Exchange Rates

GBP – USD 1. 46

GBP – EUR 1. 21