RAMSEY CROOKALL & CO MARKET REPORT EVENING

25 May 2010

Shares are in full-scale retreat around the world with London and US markets over 2% lower.

Concerns over a possible bail out of Spain and growing military tensions between North and South Korea made investors abandon equity markets.

Moves by Spanish regulators to encourage consolidation in the Spanish banking sector have put the wind up the UK banks, with Lloyds Banking, Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays taking a pounding.

Mining stocks took a bashing, ENRC, Vedanta and Antofagasta were all lower as industrial metals prices head south.

Preliminary results from Marks & Spencer came in with a slightly better than expected profit but the retail giant said it remains cautious about the outlook for the year ahead. Profit before tax and property disposals came to ?632.5 million, up 4.6%. The shares however dropped 7p to 326p.

UK insurer Prudential took a tumble when its shares began trading in Hong Kong for the first time today. The company, in the process of raising $21 billion to fund the $ 35 billion purchase of American International Group’s Asian life insurance business, watched its shares drop over 2.5% early on in Hong Kong trading.



World Markets

THE FTSE 100 CLOSED DOWN 128 @ 4940

THE DOW JONES AT 4.30 WAS DOWN 154 @ 9910

THE NASDAQ COMP AT 4.30 WAS DOWN 45 @ 2167



Exchange Rates

GBP – USD 1. 435

GBP – EUR 1. 169