This Morning in London blue-chip shares were lower, despite a leap on Wall Street overnight after the Fed cut interest rates. In early equity movements, AstraZeneca (AZN) was the top faller, down 46p to 2,327p, as investors reacted nervously to news it is evaluating its competitor, Cobalt Pharmaceuticals Inc's plan to market generic versions of its cholesterol drug Crestor before the expiration of certain US patents. Investors will be eagerly awaiting AstraZeneca's numbers due at midday. At 10:00 the FTSE-100 was 35.8 points lower at 6,685.8 after closing 62.6 points firmer at 6,721 yesterday. However the FTSE-250 has added 6.1 to 11,672.1.
BROKER RECOMMENDATIONS
Altium has downgraded Aveva (AVV) to hold from buy (1100p price target).
Cazenove reiterates outperform on BG Group (BG.) (raising the price target by 11% to 1000p).
Collins Stewart says buy Unilever (ULVR) (1850p target).
Credit Suisse has upgraded Schroders (SDR) to neutral from underperform.
Deutsche reiterates hold British Airways (BAY) and Punch Taverns (PUB).
Evolution reiterates buy BAE (BA.), BAT’s (BATS), Unilever (ULVR) and Old Mutual (OML) and reiterates add BG Group (BG.) an ICI (ICI).
Goldman has downgraded Lonmin (LMI) to neutral from buy and Vedanta Resources (VED) to sell from neutral.
HSBC has initiated coverage of DSG International (DSGI) appending an overweight recommendation and a 137p price target and of Kesa Electricals (KESA) appending a neutral recommendation and a 335p price target.
Lehman reiterates underweight on Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) (500p target).
Merrill reiterates buy Standard Chartered (STAN) and has upgraded Autonomy (AU.) to buy from neutral (1170p target).
Morgan Stanley has initiated coverage of Bradford & Bingley (BB.) appending an overweight recommendation and a 400p target price.
JP Morgan has overweight on easyJet (EZJ) (644p price target, its top pick in the airline sector).
Seymour Pierce says hold Land of Leather (LAN) and has outperform on United Business Media (UBM).
NEWS ROUND-UP
Last Night in New York stocks closed with monthly gains after resuming their rally after the Federal Reserve's interest-rate decision, offering Wall Street just what it had been clamoring for, a quarter-percentage point cut to 4.5%. Stocks first lost steam immediately after the decision, as the central bank signaled no immediate need for further cuts by emphasizing that inflation risks balanced out risks to economic growth. Up as much as 100 points ahead of the Fed's 2:15 p.m. decision, the Dow first dipped after the move, before rallying back, last gaining 137.5 points to close at 13,930.0, giving it a monthly gain of 0.2%. The S&P rose 18.36 points to 1,549.38, giving it a monthly lift of 1.5%, while the Nasdaq climbed 42.41 points to 2,859.12, a 5.5% advance from the end of September.
On this day:-
1848 - WH Smith opened its first railway bookstall, at Euston Station in London.
1894 - In Russia, the death of Alexander III. Nicholas II became Tsar of Russia.
1914 - World War I: Great British warships 'Good Hope' and 'Monmouth' were sunk by a German fleet at the Battle of Coronel.
1940 - In France, archaeologists discovered a prehistoric painting in a cave at Lascaux in the Dordogne.
1944 - Great Britain's Home Guard, formed in 1939 to fight the expected German invasion, was ordered to disband.
1945 - In Great Britain, it was announced that all available evidence supported the theory that Adolf Hitler had committed suicide in Berlin.
1946 - The first Royal Command Performance in a public cinema at the 'Empire', Leicester Square.
1950 - Premium Bonds first went on sale in Great Britain with the winning numbers picked at random by a machine with the acronym 'ERNIE.' (Electronic Random Number Indicating Equipment).
1951 - U.S. President Harry Truman survived an assassination attempt by 2 Puerto Rican nationalists.
1959 - The official opening of the country's first stretch of motorway (M1).
1963 - 'The Rolling Stones' released their first single: 'I Wanna Be Your Man'.
1963 - During a military coup in South Vietnam, President Ngo Dinh Diem was assassinated.
1972 - At least 10,000 people were killed and a further 5-million were left homeless when a tidal wave hit the coast of India.
1976 - Jimmy Carter was elected U.S. President.
1978 - The launch of a new daily newspaper in Great Britain, 'The Daily Star'.
1982 - A new terrestrial television channel, Channel 4, began transmitting. Its first programme was the word game 'Countdown'.
