RAMSEY CROOKALL & CO MARKET REPORT EVENING

21st May 2010

The FTSE fell below 5000 for the first time in six months but rebounded by the close of play.

Markets continue to fret about Europe’s sovereign debt crisis and potential financial regulation.

Banks including Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds Banking, Standard Chartered and HSBC were lower, though brewer SABMiller staggered to the top of the losers’ league following yesterday’s results.

BP was down 22p to 506p on reports it has underestimated the extent of the leak in the Gulf of Mexico.

Both houses of Germany’s parliament approved the country’s €148 billion share of a €750 billion eurozone rescue package on Friday. Chancellor Angela Merkel had called for lawmaker’s approval, warning that Europe is facing its greatest crisis in decades.

British Airways record pretax loss of ?531 million is providing some distraction from Europe’s woes. The carrier was hit by strike action, bad weather disruption and the impact from the global recession.

London Stock Exchange called its full year performance “resilient” despite a 21% drop in full year profit before one-off items.

Higher borrowing costs knocked United Utilities profits last year despite an increase in the contribution from the core water business. Pre-tax profits in the year to March fell to ?474 million from ?529 million, with underlying profits coming in at ?500 million against ?531 million, slightly below forecasts.

World Markets

THE FTSE 100 CLOSED UP 10 @ 5062

THE DOW JONES AT 4.30 WAS UP 66 @ 10,134

THE NASDAQ AT 4.30 WAS UP 36 @ 2240



Exchange Rates

GBP – USD 1.446

GBP – EUR 1.153